NHS England is responsible for nationally commissioning specialised services to deal with a range of infectious diseases (ID). Some of the more common diseases, such as HIV and Hepatitis C have separate policies, so we are currently reviewing how we manage care for patients who have one of the other serious and rare infectious conditions, to ensure that people receive high quality, appropriate care while safeguarding against the spread of disease.
Late last year we held two engagement events with colleagues across the country to discuss some of the issues with current provision of specialised infectious disease services in order to begin looking at how we can commission these services more effectively. The key barrier to progressing our case for change has been the lack of data to support the need for a different commissioning model. Although we have plenty of anecdotal evidence that suggests we need a more planned and co-ordinated approach to managing specialised infection services, we do not have enough information about the way expertise and resources are used in order to meet the current, and potential, need.
We are now looking at ways to capture activity that would demonstrate how services operate more clearly, and are scoping plans for an electronic referral system which would track referrals and requests for advice or information, in a way that would give a clearer picture of the demands made upon specialised infection services. It is likely that we will recruit two or more test sites who would use this new system over the next few months, and we will be in touch with all Specialised Adult Infectious Disease Centres to share more detail on these plans in the next few weeks.
If you would like to receive these updates directly in order to find out about opportunities to get involved, please sign up as a registered stakeholder for the Infectious Diseases CRG (Clinical Reference Group) which comes under the Blood & Infection Programme of Care.
Infectious Diseases CRG (Clinical Reference Group)
Specialised Commissioning
NHS England
Skipton House – 3B
80 London Road
London, SE1 6LH
This information is also available on the Professional Affairs Updates page