Dialysis Machines

(asked on 27th November 2014) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential cost to the NHS of devolving the commissioning of dialysis from a single nationally-prescribed service to clinical commissioning groups; and what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that devolution of commissioning is achieved safely by April 2015.


Answered by
 Portrait
Jane Ellison
This question was answered on 2nd December 2014

Assessments surrounding the transferring of renal dialysis from NHS England to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are ongoing. The Department of Health launched a public consultation on the recommendations put forward by the Prescribed Specialised Services Advisory Group (PSSAG) to transfer commissioning responsibility for renal services from NHS England to CCGs on 27 November 2014. PSSAG is a Department of Health appointed expert committee which was established in 2013 to provide the Secretary of State with advice and recommendations on specialised services

This public consultation is specifically asking key stakeholders involved in the provision of renal dialysis what NHS England would need to do to ensure a safe transfer of commissioning responsibilities to CCGs. This consultation is also asking stakeholders specifically whether the current proposed timescales for the transfer of services are feasible.

NHS England has advised that they are in dialogue with key stakeholders about both the opportunities and challenges of transferring responsibility for renal services. The head of the Specialised Services Task Force in NHS England recently met stakeholders from renal service representative groups and heard their concerns directly. A new Task and Finish group is being established by NHS England through the NHS Commissioning Assembly. This group will look specifically at what support CCGs would require to be able to safely and effectively commission services devolved to them.

NHS England is committed to issuing commissioning guidance for the safe transfer of services from national NHS England responsibility to local CCG responsibility.

The consultation closes on 9 January 2015.

Reticulating Splines