Every year, the Cardiff and Vale UHB receives money from the Welsh Government to pay for healthcare for everyone who lives in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan and is entitled to NHS care. Our job is to get the best value for this money by spending it wisely on your behalf.
Demand for healthcare is growing. New and often expensive treatments are becoming available almost every week. Our priority is to pay for those treatments that are clinically effective, can demonstrate that they improve people’s health and offer good value for money.
As a result, there are some treatments that we do not routinely provide and these fall into 2 main categories:
Your GP or Hospital Consultant can ask us, on your behalf, to fund a treatment that we would not normally provide for you.
The All Wales Making Decisions on Individual Patient Funding Requests (IPFR) Policy, clearly sets out how these requests are dealt with, and how an application can be made.
To help guide you through your submission, this page provides links to the NHS Wales IPFR application form, the IPFR Policy, IPFR Application Guidance Notes, an IPFR patient video and a patient leaflet. Hard copy documents can also be requested from the Cardiff and Vale Health Board IPFR Team.
More information on IPFR can be found here: ipfr - All Wales Therapeutics and Toxicology Centre (nhs.wales)
Our preferred method of funding request submissions is by IPFR Electronic Submission which can be accessed here: Index - IPFR (wales.nhs.uk). Please note you will need to be connected via an NHS portal and you will need to register for access.
An Application for Prior Approval is a request for a patient to receive routine treatment outside of local services or established contractual arrangements. Such an application will usually fall into one of the following categories;
Your GP or Hospital Consultant may ask us, on your behalf, to fund regular treatment outside of local services or established contractual arrangements.
The All Wales Advance Approval Applications Policy clearly sets out how these applications are handled, and how applications can be made.
This page provides links to NHS Wales' Advance Approval Application Form and Policy. Hard copy documents can also be requested from Cardiff and Vale Health Board's IPFR Team.
IPFR Documents:
Prior Approval Request Documents:
Other useful documents:
The Cardiff and Vale IPFR Panel is recruiting for IPFR Panel Members.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please send an expression of interest to CAV.IRT@wales.nhs.uk.
For an informal discussion about the panel and these opportunities, please contact Professor Richard Hain, Clinical Ethicist and Consultant in Paediatric Palliative Care – Chair of the IPFR panel.
The “All Wales Procedure for Welsh Patients Accessing Treatment in Countries of the European Economic Area” ceased at 11 pm on 31st December 2020.
The S2 funding route continues as before with the exception of the EFTA countries and Switzerland.
For further details and advice, please contact the IPFR Team via CAV.IPFR@wales.nhs.uk
Cardiff and Vale IPFR Commissioning Team
2nd Floor, Woodland House
Maes-y-Coed Road
Cardiff
CF14 4HH
Email: CAV.IPFR@wales.nhs.uk
Tel: 02921 836535