Oral Answers to Questions

Michael Fabricant Excerpts

Tuesday 14th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Gentleman might know that in 2007 the then Labour Government changed the law to allow takeovers such as that to happen. He might want to reflect on that. In terms of local management, there are consistent high standards that need to be met locally, and local commissioners should be made aware of what he has just said.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

9. If he will take steps to help ensure access to medicinal cannabis for NHS patients.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)]

On 1 November 2018 this Government changed the law to allow the prescription of cannabis-based products for medicinal use by a specialist when clinically appropriate. Licensed cannabis-based medicines such as Sativex and Epidiolex are routinely available on the NHS.

[Michael Fabricant]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that answer, particularly as she mentioned 2018, because it was of course her boss, the Secretary of State for Health, who was the pioneer in all this when he was Home Secretary. But there is a “but” coming, and it is that young children are not getting this vital medicine on the NHS. Some are having to pay £2,000 a month, and in the last three years only three prescriptions have been issued on the NHS. How can we improve the situation?