"I was told that no matter how big the lumps grow the nhs will not pay for surgery"

Dear Kenzie,

Many thanks for your posting. We would be very grateful if you could call us to discuss this further.

NHS Knowsley is responsible for commissioning and funding all NHS treatment that our patients receive, whether in hospital or the community. We always want to offer the best and most effective treatments possible.

We also need to make sure that we concentrate our resources on treatments and procedures which medical evidence tells us are most beneficial for patients.

To help us do this, we look at lots of information before we decide which treatments the local NHS will pay for.

Unfortunately the NHS will not be able to fund treatment for every problem. There are two possible reasons for this:

a) The treatment asked for will not definitely solve any medical problem(s) you may have.

b) The NHS cannot pay for treatments just to change the way you look – there has to be a medical reason for it.

We know that you may be disappointed by this, therefore you can ask your doctor about other ways of treating your problem, or if you feel that there are exceptional circumstances in your case that mean your treatment should be funded.

We’ve made a list of all those treatments that the NHS in Knowsley does not usually pay for. Anyone can ask to see the list, which is called the ‘Procedures of Lower Clinical Priority Policy’. Your GP should be able to provide you with this information, as should any of our local Hospitals

The policy in operation for NHS Knowsley is shared by the eight Primary Care Trust’s (PCTs) responsible for planning NHS care across Cheshire and Merseyside and has also been agreed by all Hospitals in the area.

In order to discuss your particular concerns in detail, please call PALS (Patient Advise Liaison Service) at NHS Knowsley on freephone 0800 073 0578.