Oral Answers to Questions Debate
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David Tredinnick
Main Page: David Tredinnick (Conservative - Bosworth)Department Debates - View all David Tredinnick's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(12 years, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Lansley
I should be grateful if the hon. Lady wrote to me about that case and gave me the opportunity to look at it, which I would be pleased to do. From my point of view, we do not countenance such requirements, through charging, denying patients access to any NHS treatment.
David Tredinnick (Bosworth) (Con)
In addition to approving drugs, NICE has also approved acupuncture for lower back pain. Should this not be widely available on the health service now?
Mr Lansley
Of course, my hon. Friend will know very well that choice of treatment is a shared decision between patients and their clinicians. NICE appraisals are about whether treatments are available in the NHS and giving information to clinicians about their relative clinical and cost-effectiveness, not prescribing that treatments should be available in specific circumstances.