Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Thomas-Symonds on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of NHS England’s clinical policy prioritisation process for specialised services on the provision of treatment to patients in the devolved nations; and if he will make a statement.

David Mowat

As health is a devolved function, it is for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to make decisions about how they prioritise funding for specialised treatments. NHS England’s clinical policy prioritisation process relates solely to the direct commissioning responsibilities of NHS England and predominantly affects patients in England.

However, NHS England works closely with the three devolved nations, particularly through the Rare Diseases Advisory Group (of which the three devolved nations are members), whose function is to provide advice to NHS England and the devolved nations on the commissioning of highly specialised services. The devolved nations are also observers on the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group, which advises NHS England on which specialised services should be prioritised for funding.