Blood Diseases: Health Services

(asked on 21st May 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his timescale is for (a) implementing and (b) completing NHS England’s planned restructuring of haemoglobinopathy services; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Seema Kennedy Portrait
Seema Kennedy
This question was answered on 4th June 2019

It is anticipated that NHS England’s new model for specialised haemoglobinopathy services will be in place by early 2020. The new model is designed to improve access to specialist advice and care for patients, irrespective of where they live.

As part of the new service, NHS England is establishing a National Haemoglobinopathy Panel to provide national multidisciplinary oversight. Patients with complex needs, wherever they live, will be able to be referred to the Panel for expert advice on new treatments and approaches to care. The national service specification will also include guidance for the 13 new born bloodspot screening programme laboratories to refer infants found to be positive for sickle cell disease to the 10 new specialised haemoglobinopathy teams. Whilst NHS England commissions the specialised aspect of haemoglobinopathy care, haemoglobinopathy coordinating centres will be encouraged to link with and support community-based services provided through primary care or community teams based within haemoglobinopathy teams.

The service specifications for the new specialised haemoglobinopathy teams and the haemoglobinopathy coordinating centres are due to be established in the next month and the associated impact assessment will be published as part of the suite of documents. The equality impact assessment indicates that it will advance the promotion of equality and support the reduction of health inequalities. For example, patients with thalassemia and sickle cell conditions will have equitable access to high quality specialist care and support within specialised commissioned centres irrespective of where in the country they live.

Hospital Episode Statistics data is attached, showing finished admission episodes with a primary and a primary or secondary diagnosis of sickle cell disorders by NHS England region of residence and Index of Multiple Deprivation decile in the year 2017-18.

Reticulating Splines