Support to Develop Specalised Clinical Commissioning Policies and Service Specifications

NHS England has held the direct commissioning responsibility for prescribed specialised services since April 2013. As part of these duties, NHS England is responsible for programme management of the development, testing and adoption of a range of clinical commissioning policies. These policies set out the nationally consistent commissioning position for specific treatments, technologies and services to ensure equal access for defined groups of patients, for which NHS England has legislative responsibility for. NHS England undertook a Further Competition through its Lead Provider Framework agreement to commission support services with expert knowledge and capacity to undertake clinical evidence reviews and evidence summary for clinical commissioning policy and service specification, to help support the development of NHS England's specialised commissioning service. The contract has been awarded to a specialised provider from the NHS England Lead Provider Framework, to deliver services over 6 programmes of care. The providers will be contracted to deliver specific reviews, as required, over a three year period, up to December 2019. This will enable delivery of the programme objectives are supported through to December 2019. NHS England have planned a programme of work that delivers a maximum of 60 programme reviews. The programme of reviews, which are based on treatment topics, will be agreed on an annual basis with the flexibility to add new topics should they be considered clinically necessary through horizon scanning systems.