Policy number: SRP 065
Policy name: Ingrown Toenail Surgery
Status: Group Prior Approval/Individual Prior Approval
Effective date: 1 April 2024
Next review date: 1 April 2026
Mid and South Essex ICB commissions surgery for Ingrown Toenails on a restricted basis.
Group Prior Approval
Nail surgery for ingrowing toenails will only be funded for patients with moderate to severe symptoms when primary care management has failed and when delivered by a commissioned community provider.
Moderate-severe symptoms include:
- Increased pain and inflammation of the toe
- Purulent drainage
- Bleeding
- Recurrent Infection
- Severe and disabling pain
- Substantial erythema and inflammation
- Severe infection
- Chronic inflammation and granulation
- Nail fold hypertrophy
Individual Prior Approval
Surgery for ingrown toenails is not routinely commissioned in a secondary care setting unless future orthopaedic surgery would be compromised – for example, a recurrent infected ingrown toenail requiring treatment prior to joint replacement surgery, or a patient cannot be managed by a community provider for clinical reasons. Individual Prior Approval must be sought.
Patients not meeting the above criteria will not be funded unless there are clinically exceptional circumstances.
Individual funding requests should only be made where the patient demonstrates clinical exceptionality.
Find out more information on applying for funding in exceptional clinical circumstances