Alpha-1 Alliance secures wide clinical expert support for a national service at Advisory Board
Yesterday, the Alpha-1 Alliance brought together clinical experts specialising in Alpha-1 and Alpha-1 patient group representatives to discuss the desired service specifications for a future national highly specialised service for patients with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (Alpha-1) in England. The objective of the meeting was to collate the views of expert NHS clinicians in Alpha-1 and patient representatives on how access to specialist, coordinated and multidisciplinary care can be improved and made more equitable across the country.
Wide patient and clinical consensus was reached on the details of what comprises such care and how it can be made available to affected patients in England in a cost-effective manner. The outcome of the meeting informed the Alliance’s formal application for a highly specialised Alpha-1 service in England, which will be submitted to NHS England within the next few days, together with a consensus paper signed by all of the expert clinicians who attended the Advisory Board meeting, expressing their full support and endorsement of the Alliance’s application. Both documents will then be reviewed by the Clinical Reference Group for Specialised Respiratory Disease, a committee of senior respiratory clinicians who advise NHS England on the commissioning of new specialised services.
Source: Alpha-1 Alliance 27/06/2014