The Specialised Healthcare Alliance (SHCA) is a broad coalition of patient groups supported by a smaller number of corporate members. Our Chair is Baroness Pitkeathley.
We were established in 2003 to campaign on behalf of people with conditions which require specialised medical care. These conditions tend to be rarer and both complex and expensive to treat. Examples are numerous but include certain cancers, cystic fibrosis, haemophilia, neurological conditions and a wide range of services for children. Accidents or complications of more common conditions can also trigger the need for specialised services such as burns, pain management and spinal injuries.
In the years since its formation, the Alliance has played a significant part in transforming the landscape for specialised services, particularly through the Carter Report of 2006. As a result, responsibility for commissioning is now largely vested in ten regional Specialised Commissioning Groups, paving the way for skills and expertise to be concentrated to the benefit of patients and their families.
Cumulatively, specialised services are important to a very large number of people and anyone could need to access such services at some point. We therefore believe the standard and availability of specialised services is fundamental to a properly functioning National Health Service and a key criterion by which the NHS should be judged.
© Specialised Healthcare Alliance