Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill (First sitting)

Debate between Julie Cooper and Andrew Selous

Committee Debate: 1st sitting: House of Commons
Tuesday 8th November 2016 Public Bill Committees

[Julie Cooper (Burnley) (Lab)]

Q This question is probably to Mr Smith. Generic supplies to the NHS in the UK provide some of the cheapest medicines in the developed world. Do you think that the approach to control the cost of generics is the right one, given that it is a minority of individual items that have come to the public’s attention because profits have soared significantly?

Warwick Smith: I am on record as saying it is the least worst system in Europe. There is no perfect system. What we have found, comparing what we have in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, is that competition is a much better way of controlling price than intervention. We produce lower prices in the UK than in the rest of Europe. We have had an issue, as you say. I think fewer than 2% of our products have made the front page of The Times. We agree that there should be data available to investigate whether those prices have a justification or not, and intervention perhaps by the Secretary of State or, at the end of the day, by the competition authorities. However, for the majority of products, as the Secretary of State said on Second Reading, the system works extremely well. We have spent time trying to come up with better systems and we cannot.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

Q This is a question for Dr Ridge about the analytical capacity of the Department to look at the extra data you are going to be collecting. I was a little worried that, in The Times investigation, given some of the emails and responses from officials, they did not really appear to be on top of what was happening in terms of prices. My question is to seek reassurance as to the capability within NHS England sensibly and intelligently to analyse the extra data that will be collected under the Bill to know what is going on.

Dr Ridge: I am glad you make the point that I am from NHS England as opposed to the Department of Health. However, I am aware that the Department of Health has an analytical team in a particular bit of the Department that focuses entirely on issues associated with medicines and reimbursement. Indeed, the reimbursement policy responsibility sits with the Department of Health. Having been associated with that team for a number of years, and having previously been the Department of Health’s chief pharmaceutical officer, I am fully aware of the capability of that team. It is substantial, although I am sure that the head of that team—I can see him in my head now—will be considering whether he needs more resources to deliver what is required.

On the issue of price gouging and the 2% figure quoted by Warwick, it seems to me that at some point someone has to intervene in these things when you are into several thousand per cent. price rises. Although the intention would never be to do that first off—I am sure there would continue to be competition—there has to be a mechanism to do that.

Warwick Smith: To add to that, it is important to realise that the officials who were named in The Times were not part of that team. They were performing a more mechanical function to do with producing lists. The Bill ensures that the team reporting to the Secretary of State has powers of investigation and intervention. As Dr Ridge said, that is necessary and we agree that it is necessary.