Yorkshire & Humber Specialised Commissioning Group

Interim Cancer Drug Fund (ICDF)

NHS Yorkshire and the Humber has been given £5.3m by the Government to set up a regional cancer drug fund to improve access for patients.

In addition to the cancer drugs which are already available, a list of other cancer drugs, which are not currently available will be drawn up by a group of doctors in the region.

To view the full policy document please click here

For more information and the application form for doctors please click here 

Yorkshire and Humber Specialised Commissioning Group

Specialised services are those services provided in relatively few specialist centres to catchment populations of more than 1 million people. These services are not provided by every hospital, and tend to be found in larger hospitals based in big towns and cities.

Examples of specialised services include renal services (such as kidney transplant and kidney dialysis), blood and marrow transplantation, morbid obesity surgery and services for patients with cystic fibrosis.

In England specialised services are either commissioned regionally, by 10 Specialised Commissioning Groups (SCGs), or nationally by the National Commissioning Group (NCG).

The Yorkshire and the Humber Specialised Commissioning Group produces and implements commissioning policy on behalf of the 14 member PCTs. Its main purpose is to ensure that specialised services, as defined in the Specialised Services National Definitions Set, are commissioned in a way that:

• delivers equity of access to appropriate, high quality, sustainable specialised services for all Yorkshire and the Humber patients;
• is co-ordinated and planned in accordance with the health needs of the population;
• is open and transparent and is based on sound evidence or research;
• delivers a seamless approach across primary, secondary and tertiary care and health and social care;
• seeks to involve users and the public;
• represents value for money and is managed within a budget; and
• implements World Class Commissioning.

The current commissioning policies are grouped under the headings of:

• general policies;
• treatment policies;
• cancer drug policies; and
• non-cancer drug policies.

These are available in full on the SCG website. If you have any queries regarding specialised services please contact jayne.reeves@nhsleeds.nhs.uk.

For more information about the SCG including developments, news and meetings is available on their website.