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Chemotherapy

Question for Department of Health and Social Care

UIN 91840, tabled on 13 December 2021

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of delivering non-acute chemotherapy within a home setting as opposed to a traditional hospital.

Answered on

20 December 2021

All National Health Service (NHS) Trusts delivering chemotherapy services have the flexibility to put in place out of hospital chemotherapy services – this assessment should be made locally, in conjunction with the wider healthcare system, and should take account of population health needs as well as workforce capacity and overall delivery of the chemotherapy service.

Decisions about out of hospital chemotherapy delivery should be taken by Trusts and their health system partners. However, as part of pandemic recovery, the NHS is seeking to retain the beneficial changes that were introduced during the pandemic, this could include virtual consultations and home delivery of oral medications.

Whilst no formal assessment of funding models has taken place, strengthening system integration and place-based commissioning is an essential component of pandemic recovery. The NHS is planning to continue the transition to system-based financial allocations and enabling local systems to make decisions about payment models that best serve their population’s health needs. Where out of hospital chemotherapy is seen as a priority, local systems will be able to incentivise this.