Doctors say restrictions on access to healthcare have increased since creation of NHS clinical commissioning groups

By Denis Campbell, The Guardian, 30 Jan., 2014

Patients are facing growing rationing of treatments such as counselling, cataract removal and IVF since the coalition restructured the NHS last year, GPs say.

In a survey of 315 family doctors, GP magazine found that 71% believed that restrictions on access to treatment in their area had increased since April 2013, when the controversial shake-up of the NHS in England began.

That led to the creation of 211 GP-led clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), which control the budget for healthcare in an area and decide who can receive what treatment. GPs said patients were encountering growing difficulty in receiving care from community nurses, counselling, cataract surgery and fertility treatment. Rationing has increased significantly in the past nine months, doctors responding to the survey said.

One family doctor, a partner in a surgery, told the magazine: "We have huge cost pressures and this is resulting in increased rationing and fragmentation of services to reduce costs." [.....]