The hydrotherapy pool at the Royal Berkshire Hospital will close, despite widespread opposition to the plan.
In December the NHS Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which faces a £20 million funding gap, agreed to stop routine funding for the treatment.
Now the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust has now decided it is not viable to keep the hydrotherapy pool open, which had been providing the service for people in Reading, West Berkshire and Wokingham.
A spokesperson for the trust said: “This decision has not been taken lightly but we have to align the services we provide with those being commissioned, and in light of the CCG’s decision it would not be a viable option to keep the pool open.
“The start up and running costs are around £1 million and we have a duty to use resources in a responsible and appropriate way.”
The trust said the closure of the pool at the hospital would enable resources to be allocated to key areas of work supporting the recovery of services that were paused during the pandemic.
It said it is in touch with service users and partners such as Reading Borough Council to explain its position and answering their questions, and is in close contact with the CCG as it searches for an alternative pool.
The closure has been opposed by the council and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).
Councillor Graeme Hoskin, the council’s lead member for health, wellbeing and sport, said the trust did consult with the public before making this decision.
He has put forward a motion to the next meeting of the full council on June 8, asking members to express their strong opposition to the decision to close the pool with no confirmed replacement.
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy has called for a rethink. Jane Mitchell, a professional adviser at the CSP, said the society “continues to challenge” the concept that aquatic physiotherapy should be considered as of limited clinical value.
She said the CCG has not demonstrated how the more limited service will not widen health inequalities, particularly for those who are disabled and those who cannot afford to self-fund for private pool access if refused individual funding.
The NHS Berkshire West CCG carried out a 12-week public consultation on the future of NHS hydrotherapy services last year before deciding to reduce the service down to being for only those in “exceptional circumstances”.
It said evidence suggests hydrotherapy benefits are no greater than alternative land-based physiotherapy.
A spokesman added: “The CCG has a duty to continually ensure limited NHS resources are spent prudently, and that the services it commissions are evidence-based, while offering clinical benefit to the maximum number of people”.
The hydrotherapy service is now only available in Reading, Wokingham and West Berkshire through an Individual Funding Request (IFR).
This means the NHS will only fund hydrotherapy if a patient’s doctor submits an request and proves there are “exceptional circumstances”.
The CCG says it worked with the CSP and Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust to develop a funding policy and clinical guidance on which cases would be considered for funding.
But the CSP said it is “regrettable that it appears that the CCG has chosen not to include” much of its advice in the new IFR process.
Once implemented, the CCG will review the new funding policy after six months.
Article originally appeared on Berkshire Live
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