Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance her Department issues NHS trusts on establishing commissioning structures for Health Technology Assessments; and whether trusts have discretion to adopt different processes.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers have not met with Greater Manchester NHS Board about the statutory commissioning of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended medicines. Similarly I am informed that NHS England is not aware of any such discussions.
The National Health Service in England is legally required to make funding available for treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies guidance, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance. This requirement is reflected in the NHS Constitution as a right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE for use in the NHS, if their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate.
The NHS Standard Contract is mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners for all contracts for healthcare services other than primary care. The 2024/25 standard contract states that, where any service involves or may involve the prescribing of medicines, the provider must ensure that its formulary reflects all relevant positive NICE technology appraisals. NICE’s guideline on developing and updating local formularies states that when a NICE technology appraisal recommends a medicine, it should be adopted into the local formulary automatically if clinically appropriate and relevant to the services provided by the organisation, and that this process should take place within three months.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions NHS England have had with Greater Manchester NHS on their statutory responsibilities to commission NICE approved medicines.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers have not met with Greater Manchester NHS Board about the statutory commissioning of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended medicines. Similarly I am informed that NHS England is not aware of any such discussions.
The National Health Service in England is legally required to make funding available for treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies guidance, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance. This requirement is reflected in the NHS Constitution as a right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE for use in the NHS, if their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate.
The NHS Standard Contract is mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners for all contracts for healthcare services other than primary care. The 2024/25 standard contract states that, where any service involves or may involve the prescribing of medicines, the provider must ensure that its formulary reflects all relevant positive NICE technology appraisals. NICE’s guideline on developing and updating local formularies states that when a NICE technology appraisal recommends a medicine, it should be adopted into the local formulary automatically if clinically appropriate and relevant to the services provided by the organisation, and that this process should take place within three months.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she last met with Greater Manchester NHS Board to discuss the statutory commissioning of NICE approved medicines.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers have not met with Greater Manchester NHS Board about the statutory commissioning of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended medicines. Similarly I am informed that NHS England is not aware of any such discussions.
The National Health Service in England is legally required to make funding available for treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies guidance, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance. This requirement is reflected in the NHS Constitution as a right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE for use in the NHS, if their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate.
The NHS Standard Contract is mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners for all contracts for healthcare services other than primary care. The 2024/25 standard contract states that, where any service involves or may involve the prescribing of medicines, the provider must ensure that its formulary reflects all relevant positive NICE technology appraisals. NICE’s guideline on developing and updating local formularies states that when a NICE technology appraisal recommends a medicine, it should be adopted into the local formulary automatically if clinically appropriate and relevant to the services provided by the organisation, and that this process should take place within three months.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the NHS of treating patients with insomnia.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No assessment has been made by the Department or NHS England of the annual cost to the National Health Service for treating patients with insomnia.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve health outcomes for people with insomnia.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Through ‘Advancing Our Health: Prevention in the 2020s’, the Government committed to review the evidence on sleep and health. That review has been undertaken, and the outcomes will be published in due course.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for the publication of next steps following the consultation entitled Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s, published on 22 July 2019.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We have no current plans to publish a summary of the responses to the consultation ‘Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s’ and there are no plans to publish next steps.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for the publication of responses to the consultation entitled Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s, published on 22 July 2019.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We have no current plans to publish a summary of the responses to the consultation ‘Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s’ and there are no plans to publish next steps.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many severe asthma patients were refused biologic treatment in the last 12 months.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information on the proportion of severe asthma patients prescribed a biologic is not held in the format requested. However, 3,396 patients commenced a new biologic therapy for severe asthma in the last year. All those patients considered to benefit from a biologic treatment by a specialist severe asthma team will have received the treatment.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of severe asthma patients have been prescribed a biologic in the last 12 months.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information on the proportion of severe asthma patients prescribed a biologic is not held in the format requested. However, 3,396 patients commenced a new biologic therapy for severe asthma in the last year. All those patients considered to benefit from a biologic treatment by a specialist severe asthma team will have received the treatment.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of rheumatoid arthritis patients received a biologic in the last 12 months.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not collected in the format requested.