Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason NHS England has designated vacuum bell therapy for pectus excavatum as the responsibility of Integrated Care Boards rather than including it within the specialised commissioning arrangements that cover surgical correction of pectus excavatum; and whether his Department plans to review that designation.

The factors that determine whether a service is a prescribed specialised service are: the number of individuals who require the service; the cost of providing the service or facility; and the number of people able to provide the service or facility.

Vacuum bell therapy for pectus excavatum is not designated as a prescribed specialised service. Non surgical management of pectus excavatum is considered a pathway based intervention better managed through local medical pathways. Responsibility for commissioning therefore sits with integrated care boards (ICBs) rather than NHS England or the Department. There are no current plans to change this approach.

NHS England will continue to encourage ICBs to prioritise commissioning non surgical medical treatments for patients with pectus excavatum as part of an integrated pathway. In addition, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department is funding the RESTORE trial, which will inform future commissioning decisions in relation to surgery. More information on the RESTORE trial is available at the following link:

https://www.fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR158749