Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason responsibility for commissioning services following a stem cell transplant from NHS England to clinical commissioning groups after 100 days.

The Manual for Prescribed Specialised Services describes which elements of specialised services are commissioned by NHS England and which are commissioned by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs):

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/prescribed-specialised-services-manual-2.pdf

Due to the small number of patients involved, the cost of the transplant episode and the small number of transplant experts, Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT) is defined as a prescribed specialised service. NHS England is responsible for commissioning and funding the transplant related care which takes place 30 days before transplant and continues until 100 days post-transplant. After 100 days post-transplant, commissioning responsibility for the routine follow-up of patients switches from NHS England to CCGs, as outlined in the Manual.

In the event that transplant patients experience serious complications post-transplant, elements of their care would likely continue to be planned, organised and funded by NHS England specialised commissioning. For example, if a patient requires Extracorporeal Photopheresis which is a treatment for acute and chronic graft versus host disease following transplantation, NHS England commissions this care post-transplant.