The "postcode lottery" for the surgical correction of gynaecomastia in NHS England.

Introduction: Action On Plastic Surgery (AOPS) criteria for funding of gynaecomastia surgery are: the patient should be post-pubertal, have a BMI ≤ 25 kg/m(2), endocrine and drug causes and breast cancer should be excluded and the patient should demonstrate psychological distress. We evaluated how NHS funding for gynaecomastia surgery varies between Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in England and whether there is a "postcode lottery".

Methods: The gynaecomastia surgery policies for 211 CCGs in NHS England were reviewed against the AOPS criteria and grouped according to their funding policies: group 1 (if criteria met, funding approved); group 2, (if criteria met, prior approval required); group 3 (no criteria, individual funding request only) and group 4 (no funding).