GWENT'S health board has sanctioned more than 10,600 treatments in the past three years, that it would not normally carry out.

And the annual amount of such treatments - known as Interventions Not Normally Undertaken (INNU) - is rising, according to figures obtained by the Argus through a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request.

There were 3,383 INNU treatments carried out in Gwent in 2013/14, rising to 3,490 the following year, and to 3,746 last year (2015/16). Eighteen INNU treatments account for these totals.

Included are treatments as varied as grommet insertion, tonsillectomy, caesarean section for non-clinical reasons, bunion removal, and spinal injections for low back pain.

The latter treatment has for the past two years been the most commonly sanctioned INNU treatment in Gwent, with around 1,500 patients receiving it in each year, almost double the number in 2013/14.

Conversely, the number of tonsillectomies carried out despite not meeting the INNU criteria, has fallen from 333 in 2013/14, to none in each of the following two years.

Removal of tonsils is one of the most common operations carried out in the UK, indeed in Gwent, but the figures suggest that a higher threshold in terms of symptoms and their impact is now being applied in order for the operation to go ahead.

All health boards have INNU policies, containing details of treatments, or 'interventions' that they do not normally provide, because there is insufficient evidence of clinical and/or cost effectiveness, or because is these treatments are considered to be a low priority in terms of the allocation of NHS resources.

The INNU list is subject to review, and treatments can be added to or removed from it, depending on a range of issues such as new guidelines from regulatory bodies like the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group (AWMSG), new scientific evidence, and reviews of existing evidence.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board's INNU list currently contains 36 treatments.

Treatments on the INNU list are not ruled out completely, and included with each entry is a range of circumstances in which it can go ahead.

These can include risk of infection, the potential effect on other parts of the body if treatment is not carried out, and the effect on lifestyle - for instance interfering with the ability to do work or sport. Some or all of these, depending on the treatment, have to be present.

In cases where it is felt that a treatment is merited, even if it does not meet some or all of the criteria, an individual patient funding request (IPFR) can be made by the consultant, though this is no guarantee of permission being granted.