Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with Parkinson's disease experiencing mental health problems accessed mental health services in the last 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The information requested is not held.
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma patients will not receive stem cell transplants if brentuximab vedotin is removed as a standard of care.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Department has made no such estimate. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently appraising brentuximab for treating CD30+ Hodgkin lymphoma and recently consulted on its draft guidance. NICE has not yet published final guidance. Brentuximab is currently available to National Health Service patients with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma through the Cancer Drugs Fund.
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma receive brentuximab vedotin through the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The number of people who received brentuximab vedotin through the National Health Service is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of people aged 50- years and under who have Parkinson's disease.
Answered by David Mowat
Information regarding the number of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease aged 50 years and under is not collected. Parkinson’s disease predominantly affects older adults, and population prevalence estimates suggest that of the 127,000 people living with the condition in the United Kingdom, the vast majority are over the age of 50. Prevalence is highest amongst people aged over 75, and estimates suggest less than 5,000 people aged 54 years and under have the condition. More information can be found in the following prevalence study published by Parkinson’s UK:
www.parkinsons.org.uk/sites/default/files/parkinsonsprevalenceuk_0.pdf
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what new drugs for the potential treatment of Parkinson's disease are being considered for licensing.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is aware of one new drug product for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease for which a licence application submission to the European Medicines Agency is expected within the next 12 months. Details of this product are not yet in the public domain.
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on ensuring that repurposed, off-patent drugs are consistently available to NHS patients where evidence supports their use.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Current prescribing arrangements already allow off-patent drugs that are found to have new uses to be prescribed to patients.
The Government and medical research charities are working together to ensure that robust evidence showing new uses for existing drugs can be brought more systematically into clinical practice to benefit patients.
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of NHS England's decision not to fund second stem cell transplants on the long-term outcomes of patients.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Decisions related to the commissioning of National Health Service treatments in England are made by NHS England using a published process that involves an impact assessment. The Department has not made any further assessment of the decision related to the commissioning of second stem cell transplants.
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of NHS England's clinical policy prioritisation process for specialised services on the provision of treatment to patients in the devolved nations; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Mowat
As health is a devolved function, it is for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to make decisions about how they prioritise funding for specialised treatments. NHS England’s clinical policy prioritisation process relates solely to the direct commissioning responsibilities of NHS England and predominantly affects patients in England.
However, NHS England works closely with the three devolved nations, particularly through the Rare Diseases Advisory Group (of which the three devolved nations are members), whose function is to provide advice to NHS England and the devolved nations on the commissioning of highly specialised services. The devolved nations are also observers on the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group, which advises NHS England on which specialised services should be prioritised for funding.
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to meet patient representatives to discuss the outcomes of the NHS England clinical policy prioritisation process for specialised services.
Answered by David Mowat
In July 2016 NHS England laid out its provisional investment plans for specialised services. However, owing to a current court case regarding pre-exposure prophylaxis these decisions are not yet finalised.
As the decisions are still subject to change, Ministers have not yet arranged meetings to discuss the final outcomes.
However Ministers continue to receive and respond to correspondence from a range of correspondents on the provisional investment decisions.
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of recently published research from Breast Cancer Now on the availability of bisphosphonates.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Independent Cancer Taskforce report included a specific recommendation on the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates for treating people with breast cancer. We understand that NHS England is working to realise the ambitions set out in the report and will publish an update on progress made soon.
National prescribing arrangements already allow for bisphosphonates to be prescribed for the prevention of secondary breast cancer.
Updated guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates for the management of breast cancer treatment-induced bone loss, taking into account the latest available evidence, is expected in July 2018.