Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on when the Health and Social Care Information Centre expects its innovation scorecard to attain the status of non-experimental statistics; what steps that centre is taking to improve the data quality of that scorecard; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
The Health and Social Care Information Centre is working towards the removal of the experimental status of the innovation scorecard during the first half of 2016. The data already complies with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in which months the implementation of commitments to increase access to treatments contained in the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme has been discussed in NHS England accountability meetings.
Answered by George Freeman
Improving patients’ access to innovative, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved treatments is part of an objective set out in the Government’s mandate to NHS England. Performance against the mandate is discussed in NHS England accountability meetings chaired by the Secretary of State. The minutes of the meetings are published on the Government’s website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-commissioning-board-accountability-meeting-minutes
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons his recent assessment of NHS England's performance against the Mandate in 2014-15 did not address NHS England's performance in meeting the requirement contained in the Mandate to ensure that people have access to the right treatment when they need it.
Answered by George Freeman
The Secretary of State’s annual assessment of NHS England’s performance in 2014-15 sets out specifically his evaluation of NHS England’s performance in meeting the access standards set out in the NHS Constitution.
In addition, the Secretary of State’s annual assessment sets out that he agrees with NHS England’s own assessment, as set out in its annual report for 2014-15, that it has made good progress against delivering its objectives in the mandate, which includes ensuring that people have the right treatment when they need it.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to assess the progress of NHS England in meeting the requirement in the 2014-15 NHS Mandate that people should have access to the right treatment when they need it.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS performance for the core access standards are published monthly by NHS England, and are available at the following link:
http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/
These standards cover accident and emergency performance, ambulance response times, waiting times for diagnostic tests, and referral to treatment for consultant led elective care, and cancer services.
Progress in these areas is discussed regularly with the NHS England and NHS Improvement Chief Executives to monitor performance against these standards.
Improving patients’ access to innovative, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved treatments is part of an objective set out in the Government’s mandate to NHS England. Performance against the mandate is discussed in NHS England accountability meetings chaired by the Secretary of State. The minutes of the meetings are published on the Government’s website.
Uptake of medicines generally is discussed at the Ministerial Industry Strategy Group. The minutes are published at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/ministerial-industry-strategy-group
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to ensure that the boards of all relevant NHS organisations are responsible for ensuring adherence to the mandatory funding direction for NICE appraisals.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England is specified in the 2014 Pharmaceutical Pricing Regulation Scheme agreement as the body responsible for ensuring there are no local barriers to ensuring access to technologies recommended in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal and highly specialised technology guidance.
NHS England has advised that there are a range of initiatives which assist NHS England in this obligation:
- NICE technology appraisalrecommendations are required to be incorporated automatically into relevant local medicines formularies;
- providers are required to publish local medicines formularies;
- the NICE Implementation Collaborative (NIC) examines barriers to the prompt implementation of NICE guidance;
- an innovation scorecard is published quarterly by the Health and Social Care Information Centre and tracks uptake of many NICE-approved medicines by the NHS;
- a joint NHS England and Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry work programme on medicines optimisation is ongoing, which seeks to improve outcomes and value from all medicines;
- NHS England works closely with Academic Health Science Networks to accelerate the adoption and diffusion of innovation.
The Department’s analysis of medicines spend for the first year of the PPRS shows that branded medicines spend grew by 8.2%, with new medicines on the Innovation Scorecard seeing growth of 18.4%. Further details have been published on the Government’s website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-of-growth-in-branded-medicines-2013-to-2014
Commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal and highly specialised technology guidance within three months of NICE’s guidance being published. There is provision for this funding period to be extended where there are particular barriers to implementation within three months.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to include measures drawn from the NHS innovation scorecard in the proposed clinical commissioning group scorecard.
Answered by George Freeman
The King’s Fund published their report on a clinical commissioning group (CCG) scorecard, Measuring the Performance of Local Health Systems (http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/articles/measuring-performance-local-health-systems), on 12 October. The King’s Fund recommends that the scorecard should comprise a small number of headline indicators targeted at the public; a broader set of indicators on performance in delivering national priorities; and a wide set of indicators for local health systems to use for improvement.
The Innovation Scorecard focuses on appropriate access to innovations (specifically medicines and devices) through the National Health Service. It includes medicines which have received a positive appraisal by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence since 2011. It aims to give Health and Care commissioners and professionals access to data at the national and local level that they can use to identify and act on unwarranted variation in patient access to these treatments.
The Department will publish further details of how it will work with NHS England to design and implement the CCG scorecard in due course.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of recent requests by NHS England to delay implementation of NICE guidance with his Department's commitment to the three month funding requirement in the latest iteration of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme; what steps he is taking to ensure that all positive NICE recommendations are funded within three months; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England is specified in the 2014 Pharmaceutical Pricing Regulation Scheme agreement as the body responsible for ensuring there are no local barriers to ensuring access to technologies recommended in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal and highly specialised technology guidance.
NHS England has advised that there are a range of initiatives which assist NHS England in this obligation:
- NICE technology appraisalrecommendations are required to be incorporated automatically into relevant local medicines formularies;
- providers are required to publish local medicines formularies;
- the NICE Implementation Collaborative (NIC) examines barriers to the prompt implementation of NICE guidance;
- an innovation scorecard is published quarterly by the Health and Social Care Information Centre and tracks uptake of many NICE-approved medicines by the NHS;
- a joint NHS England and Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry work programme on medicines optimisation is ongoing, which seeks to improve outcomes and value from all medicines;
- NHS England works closely with Academic Health Science Networks to accelerate the adoption and diffusion of innovation.
The Department’s analysis of medicines spend for the first year of the PPRS shows that branded medicines spend grew by 8.2%, with new medicines on the Innovation Scorecard seeing growth of 18.4%. Further details have been published on the Government’s website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-of-growth-in-branded-medicines-2013-to-2014
Commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal and highly specialised technology guidance within three months of NICE’s guidance being published. There is provision for this funding period to be extended where there are particular barriers to implementation within three months.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 20 of the 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme, which body is responsible for ensuring there should be no local barriers to accessing technologies recommended in NICE guidance; what assessment that body has made of the existence of local barriers since 1 January 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England is specified in the 2014 Pharmaceutical Pricing Regulation Scheme agreement as the body responsible for ensuring there are no local barriers to ensuring access to technologies recommended in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal and highly specialised technology guidance.
NHS England has advised that there are a range of initiatives which assist NHS England in this obligation:
- NICE technology appraisalrecommendations are required to be incorporated automatically into relevant local medicines formularies;
- providers are required to publish local medicines formularies;
- the NICE Implementation Collaborative (NIC) examines barriers to the prompt implementation of NICE guidance;
- an innovation scorecard is published quarterly by the Health and Social Care Information Centre and tracks uptake of many NICE-approved medicines by the NHS;
- a joint NHS England and Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry work programme on medicines optimisation is ongoing, which seeks to improve outcomes and value from all medicines;
- NHS England works closely with Academic Health Science Networks to accelerate the adoption and diffusion of innovation.
The Department’s analysis of medicines spend for the first year of the PPRS shows that branded medicines spend grew by 8.2%, with new medicines on the Innovation Scorecard seeing growth of 18.4%. Further details have been published on the Government’s website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-of-growth-in-branded-medicines-2013-to-2014
Commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal and highly specialised technology guidance within three months of NICE’s guidance being published. There is provision for this funding period to be extended where there are particular barriers to implementation within three months.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 20 of the 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme, what recent assessment he has made of the compliance of NHS bodies with the requirement for the incorporation of NICE technology appraisal recommendations into local NHS formularies.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England is specified in the 2014 Pharmaceutical Pricing Regulation Scheme agreement as the body responsible for ensuring there are no local barriers to ensuring access to technologies recommended in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal and highly specialised technology guidance.
NHS England has advised that there are a range of initiatives which assist NHS England in this obligation:
- NICE technology appraisalrecommendations are required to be incorporated automatically into relevant local medicines formularies;
- providers are required to publish local medicines formularies;
- the NICE Implementation Collaborative (NIC) examines barriers to the prompt implementation of NICE guidance;
- an innovation scorecard is published quarterly by the Health and Social Care Information Centre and tracks uptake of many NICE-approved medicines by the NHS;
- a joint NHS England and Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry work programme on medicines optimisation is ongoing, which seeks to improve outcomes and value from all medicines;
- NHS England works closely with Academic Health Science Networks to accelerate the adoption and diffusion of innovation.
The Department’s analysis of medicines spend for the first year of the PPRS shows that branded medicines spend grew by 8.2%, with new medicines on the Innovation Scorecard seeing growth of 18.4%. Further details have been published on the Government’s website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-of-growth-in-branded-medicines-2013-to-2014
Commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal and highly specialised technology guidance within three months of NICE’s guidance being published. There is provision for this funding period to be extended where there are particular barriers to implementation within three months.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of breast cancer patients whose treatment will potentially be affected following the re-evaluation of the Cancer Drugs Fund list in December 2014.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England has not yet confirmed any decisions following its re-evaluation of certain drug and indication combinations currently included on the Cancer Drugs Fund national list.
NHS England has assured the Department that no patient whose treatment is currently being funded through the Fund will have funding withdrawn, as long as it is clinically appropriate that they continue to receive that treatment. In addition, no drug will be removed from the Fund where it is the only therapy for that condition.
We are committed to maintaining the Cancer Drugs Fund until the end of March 2016. We will carefully consider with NHS England what arrangements should be put in place for the long term.