Individual funding requests

An Individual Funding Request (IFR) is for a patient whose treatment is not normally funded and needs to be considered on an individual patient basis. NHS NW London has an in-common suite of Planned Procedure with a Threshold portfolio. These are policies covering treatments or procedures with an agreed set of clinically appropriate criteria which must be met prior to any treatment referral. 

These include:

• interventions prior to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluation;
• NICE have evaluated the treatment as not generally being cost effective;
• treatments covered by NICE Technology Appraisal Guidance criteria that the patient does not meet; 
• treatments  where the patient does not fulfil the agreed funding criteria for PPwT and have clinically exceptional circumstances;
• requests to continue funding for patients previously treated:

- within a clinical trial;
- by self-funding;
- through a decision made by another intergated care board where the patient has become the responsibility of NHS NW London covered by the terms of this policy.

• requests for referral to a service not commissioned locally and not listed on the national register;
• those which are not funded through the ICB.

How can I make an individual funding request?   

It is a clinician lead application. This means that a patient will need the support of a clinician, usually the patient’s GP or consultant, to make the case on their behalf through submitting a completed IFR application along with the supporting clinical evidence. The application will be considered by the NW London IFR Panel. 

Further information on the IFR process is set out in the NW London’s IFR Operation Policy. 

Contact details 

The IFR Team can be contacted for general queries only; patients are advised to contact their GP or hospital clinical team if they require information regarding their IFR case.

For more information regarding IFR policies or process please contact nhsnwl.ifr@nhs.net.

Further information is available in the patient information leaflet here