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

Kevin Foster Excerpts

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

[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.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

Q In looking at any piece of legislation, one must consider whether there is an alternative. My question is directed at Mr Smith in particular. To put a scale on this, although we accept that it concerns a minority of manufacturers, we are talking about 262 million quid a year for 50 drugs that have increased significantly in price. Given the voluntary range and references to past difficulties, do you see any sensible alternative to dealing with the minority of companies that have adopted that type of approach?

Warwick Smith: The focus needs to be first on transparency, so that those officials whose job it is to monitor these prices and set the reimbursement rates can see the data. Not all companies currently submit data. Our requirements do not include all products, and we think they should. We have proposed to the Department that they should include all products and that there should be powers to insist that all manufacturers provide those data. The Bill does that—it gives them those powers. That is the first important step to transparency. Once the officials in the team that Dr Ridge referred to have those data, they can monitor what is happening and put questions. They will have powers to investigate and the Secretary of State will have the power to act. We all thought that the Secretary of State had those powers, but it appeared—through a piece of drafting that none of us had noticed—that he did not. So the Bill will fill the gaps in a system that we think is the right system but had some gaps in it that none of us had spotted, frankly.