5 Implementation

5.1 Section 7(6) of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Constitution and Functions) and the Health and Social Care Information Centre (Functions) Regulations 2013 requires clinical commissioning groups, NHS England and, with respect to their public health functions, local authorities to comply with the recommendations in this appraisal within 3 months of its date of publication.

5.2 When NICE recommends a treatment 'as an option', the NHS must make sure it is available within the period set out in the paragraph above. This means that, if a patient has anaemia associated with cancer treatment and the doctor responsible for their care thinks that erythropoiesis‑stimulating agents (ESAs) are the right treatment, it should be available for use, in line with NICE's recommendations.

5.3 The NHS procures ESAs on a 'price‑volume' agreement on a confidential basis with the companies. The contract prices used for the decision‑making in this appraisal represent the latest tenders to London hospitals provided for this appraisal by the Commercial Medicines Unit and the South East England Specialist Pharmacy Services to NICE. Any enquiries from NHS organisations about the contract prices used in this appraisal should be directed to the Commercial Medicines Unit and the South East England Specialist Pharmacy Services.

5.4 NICE has developed tools to help organisations put this guidance into practice (listed below).

  • Costing template and report to estimate the national and local savings and costs associated with implementation.

  • National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)