Department of Health

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Commissioning specialised services

Specialised services are broadly defined as those with low patient numbers but which need a critical mass of patients to make treatment centres cost effective.

Particular challenges for specialised services include training specialist staff, supporting high quality research programmes, and making the best use of scarce resources such as expertise, high-tech equipment and donated organs.

Specialised services are subject to different commissioning arrangements from other NHS services.

Additional links

Specialised services commissioning

Specialised services commissioning

Dedicated NHS website

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