NHS England has published its response, Consultation on Specialised Services Specifications and Commissioning Policies 2013/14: Summary and Response from NHS England (document is available on out archived website), to consultation earlier this year on the service specifications and commissioning policies which support its specialised commissioning function.

The consultation, which ran from December 2012 to February 2013, sought the views of stakeholders on 128 service specifications and 43 policies. More than 3,500 responses were received from individual patients, patient groups, commissioners, provider organisations and others.

All feedback received was collated and was used to inform the versions of the documents which were used as the basis for contracting with NHS and independent sector service providers in 2013/14. NHS England has also published a more detailed report, Consultation on Specialised Services Specifications and Commissioning Policies 2013/14 (document is available on out archived website), which outlines much of this feedback.

Comments received during consultation, and a subsequent evaluation workshop, have already helped NHS England to develop a model for future engagement with patients and patient groups in specialised services.

James Palmer, National Clinical Director for Specialised Services, said:

“We acknowledge that this consultation was far from perfect in terms of its timescale and scope, however, we have gained a significant amount of insight from people who contributed to this exercise which has already enabled us to put any future engagement exercises on a firmer footing.

“Since the consultation closed we have recruited patient and carer members to our Clinical Reference Groups; have launched a stakeholder recruitment programme; and have developed a model for future engagement with members of our Patient and Public Engagement Steering Group”.

The service specifications and clinical commissioning policies which were published following consultation are grouped into their relevant Programmes of Care and can be found at https://www.england.nhs.uk/npc-crg/.