Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that commissioning routes in respect of treatment for ultra-rare diseases are as quick and thorough as possible.

NHS England has responsibility for the commissioning of specialised services and is currently consulting on changes to the principles and processes by which it makes decisions on prioritising investment in specialised services.

NHS England has provided assurance that any prioritisation which is urgent on clinical grounds will continue to be dealt with quickly through their existing procedures. The route for individual funding requests remains in place.

The consultation can be found at:

www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/investing-in-specialised-commissioning