Thousands of middle-aged men who suffer from enlarged prostates will be offered 20-minute steam treatments, under an NHS drive to offer speedier and more efficient care.

Health chiefs will, on Thursday, back seven innovations – including a procedure that can help men suffering urinary problems and spare them from surgery. 

One in three men over the age of 50 suffer from symptoms of an enlarged prostate, which can include frequent trips to the lavatory, and difficulty emptying their bladder.

Standard treatments such as surgery can cause considerable side effects, including incontinence and the loss of sexual function, meaning many men put up with symptoms for decades.

Health chiefs will announce that Rezum – a 20-minute treatment which involves injecting an enlarged prostate with jets of steam – is among seven treatments that the NHS will routinely fund in future.

It means any man eligible for the treatment should be able to receive it, because it has been selected under a “Medtech Funding mandate” which means hospitals are automatically reimbursed for all such treatments.

Innovations will mean shorter hospital stays

Health officials have selected seven treatments because of their potential for efficiency savings, and shorter hospital stays, at a time when hospitals are facing record backlogs, and pressure to spend an £8 billion cash boost wisely.

Four are same day-treatments for enlarged prostates, while other innovations include “balloon” therapy to treat chronic sinusitis, portable chest drains with in-built monitoring and new treatments for sickle cell disease.

GPs will be told that all patients eligible for such treatments should be referred for them.

Prof Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, said: “Rezum, which uses bursts of steam to shrink the prostate instead of men needing more invasive surgery, is just one of the cutting-edge techniques the NHS will roll out this year that will make a huge difference to the lives of patients.

“The water vapour therapy can be carried out in just 20 minutes – avoiding the need for an overnight stay in hospital and with the effects of the treatment kicking in within two weeks, it can quickly improve people’s day to day lives.”

He said the NHS would continue to “accelerate the use of innovative treatments so that patients can be seen faster while also freeing up time for more routine care”.