Individual Funding Requests (IFR)

The IFR process

Should you wish to submit an IFR on behalf of your patient please refer to the IFR statement of principles, management policy, IFR decision making policy and exceptionality policy for further guidance and information regarding the process.

NOTE: The ICB can only consider funding requests for patients who are registered with a GP practice within Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (LSC ICB) and reside within the LSC ICB area. The LSC ICB places are as follows:

  • Blackburn with Darwen
  • Blackpool
  • Lancashire - Central
  • Lancashire - East
  • Lancashire - North
  • South Cumbria

IFR applications for patients who reside outside of Lancashire and South Cumbria, please follow the relevant local ICB IFR process.

For Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB patients, please submit an online application via the Blueteq Trust System.  

Blueteq Trust system user guidance:

From Monday 21 September 2026, IFR applications must be submitted via the Blueteq Trust system. Email submission will only be accepted where there is an exceptional technical issue that prevents access to the online system. In these circumstances, please contact the IFR team for advice and support at funding.requests@nhs.net for support.

Reconsidering an application that was not approved for funding

If a requesting clinician believes there is significant new clinical information that was not previously submitted which may alter the decision, they may submit the information and request reconsideration of the decision.

A request for a reconsideration of a decision will only be processed where there is new clinical information relevant to the case to be considered. A reconsideration must be submitted to the IFR team within 12 weeks of the decision.

Please submit an online reconsideration application via the Blueteq Trust System.  

From Monday 21 September 2026, IFR applications must be submitted via the Blueteq Trust system. Email submission will only be accepted where there is an exceptional technical issue that prevents access to the online system. In these circumstances, please contact the IFR team for advice and support at funding.requests@nhs.net for support.

Appeal process

There is no statutory requirement for the ICB to hold appeals. However, in line with best practice, the ICB does allow an appeal to be made against the process that was followed to arrive at a decision made at IFR panel.

An appeal can be made by a clinician requesting the treatment or a patient. Where an appeal is submitted by a patient, this must have the full support of their clinician. An appeal must be submitted to the IFR team within 12 weeks of the decision.  

It must be noted that an appeal panel cannot overturn a decision which has been taken by the IFR panel.

Please submit an online appeal application via the Blueteq Trust System.  

From Monday 21 September 2026, IFR applications must be submitted via the Blueteq Trust system. Email submission will only be accepted where there is an exceptional technical issue that prevents access to the online system. In these circumstances, please contact the IFR team for advice and support at funding.requests@nhs.net for support.

Individual Funding Request team contact details - clinicians only

Tel: 01782 916876

Email: funding.requests@nhs.net

If you are a patient and have an enquiry about an IFR application or the process please speak with your clinician in the first instance alternatively, please contact the ICB Patient Experience Team (PET).

Where there is a new or rare treatment or a policy specifies a treatment is ‘not routinely commissioned’ meaning a decision has been taken not to commission (fund) that specific treatment, an IFR (clinically exceptional case) Approval will be required. This means treatment will only be funded if the application proves exceptional clinical need compared to other people with the same or similar condition. Funding approval must be obtained via the IFR process prior to any treatment commencing or a patient being placed on a waiting list. 

An IFR application can also be submitted when the patient does not meet the specified clinical criteria within a specific treatment policy and where a clinician considers their patient has exceptional clinical need.

Funding applications can be made in either Primary or Secondary Care. Applications for funding should ideally be made by the clinician who has the most knowledge of the condition and intervention that the request relates to.

Funding applications can be made in either Primary or Secondary Care. Applications for funding should ideally be made by the clinician who has the most knowledge of the condition and intervention that the request relates to.

A clinician may think that their patient’s clinical situation is so different to other patients with the same condition, that it is appropriate that they should have a specific treatment. Believing that their patient will gain greater benefit than other patients within the same cohort or similar clinical circumstances. In such circumstances, clinicians, on behalf of their patient, may submit an IFR. This route should only be used in exceptional clinical circumstances and not as a route to gain consideration of funding a new treatment or to start a service development.

There can be no exhaustive description of the situations which are likely to come within the definition of exceptional clinical circumstances. The onus is on the clinician making the request to set out the grounds for clinical exceptionality clearly for the IFR Panel to consider.

The Integrated Care Board (ICB) defines exceptionality solely in clinical terms. Personal or social circumstances will not be taken into consideration. In essence it is a question of equity. To consider personal, social or other non-clinical factors could introduce inequity.

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