Treatments with little or no benefit named

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has drawn up a list of 40 treatments which offer little or no benefit to patients, as part of the Choose Wisely campaign to reduce the number of unnecessary medical treatments.

Medical experts from 11 different specialities were asked to identify five treatments or procedures commonly used in their field that were not allways necessary or effective.

The guidelines advise: tap water is just as good for cleaning cuts and grazes as saline solution; small wrist fractures in children do not normally need a plaster cast, and will heal just as quickly with a removable splint; children with bronchiolitis, or breathing problems, usually get better without treatment; electronic monitoring of a baby's heart is only needed during labour if the mother has a higher-than-normal risk of complications; chemotherapy may be used to relieve symptoms of terminal cancer but it cannot cure the disease and may well bring further distress in the final months of life; and routine screening for prostate conditions using a test known as a Prostate Specific Antigen, or PSA test, does not lead to longer life and can bring unnecessary anxiety.

The Academy also recommended that patients should always ask five key questions before seeking treatment: do I really need this test, treatment or procedure?; what are the risks or downsides?; what are the possible side-effects?; are there simpler, safer options?; and what will happen if I do nothing?

In an interview with the BBC, Professor Dame Sue Bailey, chairwoman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said: “Some of these treatments can be quite invasive, time-consuming; there are simpler and as-safe options, so why wouldn't you?

"Because I think what we've got is a culture of 'we can do something, therefore we should do something' and we need to stop and reflect and decide what is the best option for the patient in their individual circumstances."