Download IFR Information Sheet V8

Individual Funding Requests
Please note: Individual Funding Requests (IFRs) are administered by Elspeth Godwin,
Commissioning Support Officer, IFRs, North of England Commissioning Support Unit on
behalf of NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group.
To make an application:
 Register on the online IFR referral system at https://ifr.sotw.nhs.uk . The guidance
document on the website explains how to do this.
 You will be requested to confirm that patient consent has been obtained on behalf
of your patient for relevant health records to be shared with members of the IFR
team. You can use the Patient Information Explicit Consent Form to record that
consent has been given.
 To clarify eligibility criteria visit Value Based Clinical Commissioning Policies. A
copy of the policies can be found on the website.
 If you need assistance on using this system please contact your Individual Funding
Request Administrator at [email protected]

If you need assistance on using this system please contact your Individual Funding
Request Administrator.
Submitted requests are triaged against existing eligibility criteria or to consider whether
there are exceptional reasons put forward for the funding request. If insufficient
information is provided, further information will be requested from the clinician. The IFR
panel normally meets every four weeks to consider the cases and make decisions. The
referrer will be notified of the outcome by email which will provide a link to the on-line
referral. The clinician is responsible for communicating the decision to the patient. The
target timescales for decision making are:
 25 working days or less from receipt of request with all relevant information to
panel decision
 10 working days or less from IFR panel decision to written confirmation (standard
requests)
 5 working days or less from receipt of request with all relevant information to
written confirmation of panel decision (urgent requests)
Specialised Services (NHS England Prescribed Services)
Commissioning responsibility for a number of services, including:
 bariatric surgery,
 adult highly specialist pain management
 Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)
has moved to specialised commissioning teams.
Specialised services are commissioned under contract with nominated providers, therefore
referrals should be sent directly to them for assessment.
For further information please refer to:
 NHS England Clinical Commissioning Polices or Statements
 Manual of Prescribed Services
 Identification Rules

Bariatric surgery – referral information for Tier 3 intensive weight management
programme (bariatric surgery)
o
o
Northumbria Bariatric Surgery referral form
Referrals to the Aintree Weight Specialist Management Service
IFR’s for Specialised Services
If the provider considers that the referral constitutes an IFR within NHS England Prescribed
Services, they should apply for funding approval via: https://nescg.not.nhs.uk.
The application will be considered by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS
England Area Team which is responsible for the operational management of IFRs for
prescribed specialised services for provider organisations in the North of England region.
North of England Commissioning Support Unit on behalf of
NHS Cumbria CCG