The individual funding request (IFR) process set out in our IFR policy is used to consider individual requests for funding where a service, intervention or treatment falls outside existing service agreements.
In South West London, applications should be made by the treating clinician. This is usually the secondary care clinician who has access to the information required to make a case for exceptionality.
This process is separate to the prior approvals process for procedures covered by our evidence based interventions policy, which should also be completed by the treating clinician.
Applications will be approved where our IFR panel determines that:
- the patient is clinically exceptional or meets the criteria for inclusion in the IFR policy
- the treatment is clinically effective
- the cost of treatment is a good use of NHS resources
Exceptional clinical circumstances
There is no exhaustive description of the circumstances which could be defined as clinically exceptional.
‘Exceptional’ in IFR terms means a person to whom the general rule should not apply. This implies that there is likely to be something about the patient’s clinical situation which was not considered when formulating the general rule.
The consideration is whether it is fair to fund a patient’s treatment when the treatment is not available to others.
Make an application
If you’re a GP and want to make an IFR application, please email our IFR team, providing details of the application, including the basis for clinical exceptionality, in line with section 5 of our IFR policy.
We will respond with advice on the next steps.
