Imatinib for the adjuvant treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumours

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 a gastrointestinal stromal tumour and the doctor responsible for their care thinks that adjuvant imatinib is the right treatment, it should be available for use, in line with NICE's recommendations.

5.3 NICE has developed a costing template to estimate the national and local savings and costs associated with implementation to help organisations put this guidance into practice.