Senior doctors admit prescribing many treatments ‘of little or no use’

DOZENS of common treatments to help with a range of ailments are of little or no use, senior doctors have said.

To help patients and medics make the right decisions about care, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC) has recorded 40 treatments or tests with this in mind along with the gentle warning that “more doesn’t always mean better”.

Using tap water to clean up cuts and grazes is just as good as a saline solution and a plaster cast is not needed for some small wrist fractures in children who may find that a removable splint will help them to heal just as quickly, according to the AMRC advice from its medical royal colleges and facilities.

Another example is that X-rays do not help to deal with lower back pain if there are no other concerning features. Lower back pain, prostate conditions and terminal cancer are among the wide-ranging ailments which are also touched upon in this first wave of recommendations.

It comes after 82 per cent of doctors said they had prescribed or carried out a treatment which they knew to be unnecessary in a study carried out last year.

Patient pressure or patient expectation was given as the main reason, the AMRC noted.

The global campaign aims to cut down on over-medicalisation and to help provide the groundwork for a fully-informed conversation about the risks and benefits of treatments and procedures.

The AMRC also gives key pointers to patients and doctors on how to treat health-related issues.

Patients should ask about the risks or downsides, the possible side effects, if there simpler or safer options, and “what will happen if I do nothing?”.

The advice also notes that chemotherapy may be used to relieve terminal cancer symptoms but can also be painful, cannot cure the disease and may well bring further distress in the final months of life.

AMRC chairman Professor Dame Sue Bailey said: “We all have a duty to look after resources in healthcare, but that’s not the main motivation for this initiative.

“What’s much more important is that both doctors and patients really question whether the particular treatment is necessary. Medicine or surgical interventions don’t need to be the only solution offered by a doctor and more certainly doesn’t always mean better.”