Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for bridge to lung transplant is recommended to be available as a treatment option through routine commissioning within the criteria set out in this document.

The NHS is encouraging pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine as new data shows that nearly 20 per cent of the most critically ill COVID patients are pregnant women who have not been vaccinated. Since July, one in five COVID patients receiving treatment through a special lung-bypass machine were expectant mums who have not […]

A commissioning policy is a document that defines access to a service for a particular group of patients. A NICE Technology Appraisal Guideline on the same topic will replace, or be incorporated into, a commissioning policy as appropriate. These are important documents that are developed to ensure consistency in access to treatments nationwide. Abatacept for […]

Service specifications are important in clearly defining the standards of care expected from organisations funded by NHS England to provide specialised care. The specifications have been developed by specialised clinicians, commissioners, expert patients and public health representatives to describe both core and developmental service standards. Core standards are those that all funded providers should be […]

NHS England today announced more details of the accelerated national reviews into paediatric critical care and specialised surgery for children. The reviews, which are part of NHS England’s regular round of specialised commissioning service reviews, would normally take up to two years to complete, but have been fast tracked to run in parallel with other […]

Since the publication of this blog John Holden has left NHS England. Your feedback The main topic you’ve been commenting on has been the scope of the review, which was discussed by our Board’s Task and Finish Group on 29 October 2013.  They considered a recommendation from our Clinical Advisory Panel, who in turn had […]