LOW PRIORITY FUNDING for hospital care

The Integrated Care Board Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West suggest
“To make sure that the NHS can provide the best care for the maximum number of people it is vital that every penny is spent wisely. This means only funding treatments that have been demonstrated to work and where there is also a high likelihood of benefit for as many people as possible and a low likelihood of harm. We always must bear in mind that carrying out treatment that is not of great health benefit uses up resources that could be spent on really making a difference elsewhere.

We may decide that a treatment or procedure should not be routinely funded because:

• There is only limited or no evidence of its effectiveness (whether it works or not)
• It is considered a low priority for funding, (for example, cosmetic surgery) compared to other treatments”
  Clinical Commissioning Policy Statements & IFRs | BOB ICB

Searching for treatments which usually will not be funded

There are many treatments, covered in commissioning policy statements, which will not usually be funded on the NHS, many of these relate to hospital care.

From the Integrated Care Board Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West
You can view the individual commissioning policy statements for each treatment by looking at the different categories of policy statements.

• Clinical Commissioning Policy Statements & IFRs | BOB ICB – scroll down the page to find the the list of categories of policy statements.

If funding is to be considered then an Individual Funding Request (IFR) is required
An IFR is an application to fund healthcare that is not usually funded by the NHS. These requests are considered by an IFR Panel which considers evidence of clinical and cost-effectiveness, as well as equity for the whole population. Individual funding requests are explained in more detail including frequently asked questions (You need to scroll down to the bottom of the linked page to find the FAQs):

• Clinical Commissioning Policy Statements & IFRs | BOB ICB

Finding the individual funding request criteria
The criteria for funding are usually found in the individual commissioning policy statements for each treatment

Unless the strict criteria are met then funding is not likely to be approved. The IFR committee does not meet often so there is generally a time delay before a funding decision is made. 

Low priority treatments are not declined because of their relative importance to individual patients
Unfortunately, there is not enough money to fund every possible type of operation, procedure and medication so decisions have to be made as to what will be available for everyone and what has to be restricted.

Further information

Some common treatments which will usually not be funded are included below.