Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill

Lord Mackay of Clashfern Excerpts

Report stage (Hansard): House of Lords
Tuesday 7th February 2017 Lords Chamber

To conclude, I applaud the intent of the noble Lord in bringing forward the amendment. In their contributions, noble Lords have quite rightly drawn attention to policy objectives that this Government view as a critical priority and on which we are taking action. As I outlined earlier, a number of programmes are underway to influence prescribers and improve the uptake of NICE-approved drugs that are unrelated to pricing, but this amendment would undermine the core purpose of the Bill, which is supported in its main intent on all sides of the House, by undermining the ability of the Government to have effective price control schemes. I would therefore ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.

[Lord Mackay of Clashfern (Con)]

Did I understand my noble friend to say that, once a medicine or treatment has been approved by NICE through its technology appraisal process for clinical and cost effectiveness, it is supposed to be available to patients within three months?