CCG agrees to consult again after homeopathy funding judicial review challenge

A clinical commissioning group in the North West has agreed to hold a new public engagement exercise over its funding of homeopathy following a judicial review challenge.

According to the Good Thinking Society, the charity that brought the legal action, Liverpool CCG had been one of a number of CCGs in the Cheshire and Merseyside area to consult the public about the commissioning of treatments.

As part of this exercise Liverpool CCG consulted on the proposal to commission only those complementary therapies recommended by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

NICE does not recommend homeopathy for any condition, the Society said. It added that there had been no responses from the public which raised concern about the proposal to terminate funding for homeopathy, and the area Commissioning Support Unit subsequently recommended adopting the proposal.

A meeting of Liverpool CCG’s Governing Body in December 2014 decided, however, to continue funding homeopathy services.

The Society claimed that the board cited reasons “which had not been raised in the consultation exercise and which were unevidenced”.

After the Society challenged that decision by way of judicial review, Liverpool CCG reportedly agreed to reconsult and then make a new decision on whether to continue funding of homeopathy services.


Salima Budhani of law firm Bindmans, which acted for the Society, said: "This case underlines the necessity of transparent and accountable decision making by the controllers of health budgets, particularly in the light of the current financial climate in the NHS.

"CCGs have legal obligations to properly consider relevant evidence, as well as the views of experts and residents, in deciding how precious NHS resources are to be spent. It is essential that commissioning decisions are rational and evidence-based. Liverpool CCG's decision to reconsider its position on the funding of homeopathy in these circumstances is to be welcomed."

Budhani added: “Our client has also called upon the Secretary of State for Health to issue guidance on the funding of homeopathy on the NHS. Public statements by the Secretary of State indicate that he does not support ongoing funding, yet he has so far declined to ask NICE to do any work on this issue. The provision of such guidance would be of significant benefit to CCGs in justifying decisions to terminate funding."

According to the Society, a spokesperson for Liverpool CCG said: “Liverpool CCG currently resources a small homeopathy contract to the value of £30,000 per year that benefits a small number of patients in the city who choose to access NHS homeopathy care and treatment services.

“The CCG has agreed with the Good Thinking Society to carry out further engagement with patients and the general public to inform our future commissioning intentions for this service.”