If the requested treatment or procedure is not covered by the NHS South East London Treatment Access Policy (TAP), updated July 2024, an Individual Funding Request (IFR) can be submitted. IFRs must be made by your treating clinician and must be made on the basis of…

Clinical Exceptionality – where the patient is suffering from a presenting medical condition for which NHS South East London has a policy but where the requested treatment has not been agreed to be funded under the policy or rarity and the patient would gain more clinical benefit from the treatment from other with the same diagnosis, or…

Rarity – where a patient has a very rare clinical condition and no commissioning policy exists because the low probability of the condition occurring among the NHS South East London’s population means that an explicit policy is not warranted.

An IFR can only be made by the clinician treating you if they believe your clinical circumstances are exceptional and that are likely to gain significantly more benefit from the treatment or service that isn’t routinely offered by the NHS than might be expected for the average patient with the condition.

An IFR can be made for a treatment that is not routinely offered by the NHS:

• when your clinician believes that your clinical circumstances are clearly significantly different to other patients with the same condition, and

• when there is a reason why you would benefit significantly more than other patients – and therefore gain more clinical benefit from the treatment.

Applications are not accepted from individuals. An NHS Clinician, such as your GP or specialist Consultant (NHS) will need to make an application by completing this application form and submitting by email to ifr@selondonics.nhs.uk.

To download the latest NHS South East London policies, please see our Governance Handbook. Please see other relevant IFR documents below.

Appendix A – SEL ICB IFR process flowchart

Appendix B – NHS SEL ICB – Individual Funding Request Application Form

Appendix C – SEL ICB IFR Triage Group Terms of Reference

Appendix D – SEL ICB IFR Panel Terms of Reference

Appendix E – SEL ICB IFR Appeal Panel Terms of Reference

Appendix F – SEL ICB IFR Ethical Decision Making Framework

Appendix G – SEL ICB IFR operating timescales