Health Services

(asked on 11th February 2015) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many commissioning fact sheets have been produced by NHS England since 2013; and what plans NHS England has to produce a commissioning fact sheet for dermatology services.


Answered by
Norman Lamb Portrait
Norman Lamb
This question was answered on 23rd February 2015

Since 1 April 2013, NHS England has published information factsheets for a range of purposes. The main factsheet resource for commissioners has been produced to provide the costs and benefits of 25 specific interventions to reduce premature deaths:

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/forward-view/sop/red-prem-mort/factsheets/

Although there are currently no plans to produce a commissioning factsheet for dermatology, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance in areas such as eczema and psoriasis continues to help commissioners to deliver high quality dermatological care.

With regard to strategic clinical networks (SCNs), the first SCNs were chosen by NHS England using criteria developed with input from a broad range of stakeholders. These are initial groupings and it is expected that they will be expanded in the future. NHS England is undertaking a review of the role, purpose and function of the sub-regional infrastructure that it funds, which is focussed on supporting commissioners and providers to improve the quality of services including SCNs. This review is ongoing and is expected to reach its conclusions by the end of March.

NHS England currently has no plans to introduce a National Clinical Director for Dermatology. However, NHS England has established a clinical reference group for specialised dermatology to bring together clinical experts, patients and carers to share best practice and improve services for patients.

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