Spinal Injuries: Health Services
(asked on 16th March 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department will ensure that low-volume, high-cost services such as spinal cord injury are not deprioritised by individual ICBs facing competing local financial pressures.
Plans to delegate suitable specialised services were first set out in the Roadmap for Integrating Specialised Services within Integrated Care Systems and have been developed in close collaboration with NHS England’s regional teams, integrated care boards (ICBs), specialised services provider clinicians, and patient groups. The Roadmap for Integrating Specialised Services within Integrated Care Systems is available at the following link:
They represent the outcome of a thorough assessment of ICB readiness, and a comprehensive analysis of services to determine their suitability and readiness for more integrated commissioning.
The latest NHS England commissioning update, published on 2 March 2026, sets out the role that seven offices for pan-ICB commissioning (OPICs) will play in supporting ICBs across each National Health Service region to efficiently and effectively commission these services, including commissioning at scale, where appropriate, to improve patient outcomes. The NHS England commissioning update is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/direct-commissioning-update/
OPICs will ensure that all ICBs across a region have equal access to the critical mass of expert commissioning knowledge and the capability necessary for the effective and efficient commissioning of these important and complex areas of service provision like spinal cord injury. They will become centres of commissioning excellence, playing a vital role in facilitating multi-ICB collaboration and decision making, ensuring strong patient and public involvement in the design and delivery of services, and building strong relationships with wider health and care system partners.