CONTROVERSIAL plans to cut NHS funding for hydrotherapy treatment in Reading are expected to be approved this month.

Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) currently pays for around 300 people to use Royal Berkshire Hospital’s hydrotherapy pool each year and this costs about £240,000.

At a meeting on December 8, the CCG’s governing board is expected to stop routine NHS funding for hydrotherapy treatment for people in Reading, West Berkshire and Wokingham.

If that decision is approved, the CCG, which is trying to close a £20 million funding gap, would only fund the treatment if a patient’s doctor submits an Individual Funding Request (IFR) and proves there are “exceptional circumstances”.

READ MORE: Closure of ‘vital’ hydrotherapy service in Reading opposed by council and MP

However, it does not have the power to shut down the hydrotherapy pool, which is run by Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust.

Patients and various charities claim it is an effective form of treatment, which can reduce pain and improve mobility for people suffering with arthritis, chronic pain, fibromyalgia and other medical conditions.

But in a report, the CCG states there is “a lack of definitive clinical evidence that points to any benefits over and above land-based physiotherapy”.

The NHS organisation says just 1.2 per cent of the 107,000 physiotherapy appointments it funds each year involve hydrotherapy, and land-based physiotherapy is far more cost effective and has “strong clinical evidence behind it”.

The pool has been closed since March, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the CCG says it will not reopen "for a considerable period of time".

Almost 500 people took part in a recent consultation on the NHS hydrotherapy service and 44 per cent (217 people) said they had used it.

Over 330 people said it was good value for money and 364 people thought cutting funding would have a substantial impact on patients.

In 2016, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust announced plans to permanently close the hydrotherapy pool, but it U-turned on the decision following a public backlash.