Providers need a clear strategy for specialised services in order to plan for long term
27 April 2016
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It is expected that spending on specialised services will increase more rapidly than other parts of the health service
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Financial pressure is being created for specialised services, mostly due to the growth of new drugs
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The challenge of commissioning specialised services was underestimated
There were 146 specialised services in England in 2015-16, mostly for long term conditions. This report does not include cancer, which has been covered in another NAO report. The budget for specialised commissioning in the same year was £14.6bn, and the rate of growth in the budget for specialised commissioning for 2016-17 is 7%.
The report concludes that the growing costs of providing specialised services threatens NHS financial stability - only 6% of the trusts that responded to the NAO survey said that their current contractual arrangements with NHS England enable them to plan for the longer term. NHS Providers has agreed that the payment system needs refinement, and has welcomed the call for NHS Improvement and NHS England to design new tariffs to better support specialised services.
“NHS providers are keen to work with NHS England and other partners to make the recommendations in this report a reality; but to do so we need a better means of ensuring regular dialogue and engagement with providers at the frontline.” Miriam Deakin
Read the full press statement here