Phototherapy Service Provision in the U

Predominantly hospital based, it is commonly used prior to considering systemic therapy in those patients for whom topical treatment has proved unsatisfactory in moderate to severe disease.

Phototherapy has to be prescribed by clinicians knowledgeable of the many indications as well as the available topical and systemic treatments, to enable a decision when phototherapy is appropriate and which form should be prescribed.

Audits of phototherapy provision have revealed great variation in the quality of service provided between centres.Recent moves by some commissioners to provide community based phototherapy services also gives rise to concerns over the care pathway and service provision standards. This, along with legal concerns with burning and in those patients who have had a lot of phototherapy exposures i.e., the cancer risk, have brought clinical governance issues to the fore.

As an expert body the BAD felt it important to pre-empt these service variations by providing our members, PCTs, trusts and patients with robust consensus from the experts in the field.