Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to implement the recommendation in the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy to evolve medicines value assessments to include improved patient outcome measures.

The Government is supportive of the vision of the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy (LSIS). However, it is a sector led document and not official Government policy. The Government has committed to implement some of the recommendations in collaboration with the sector through the first Life Sciences Sector Deal, which was published as part of the Industrial Strategy White Paper. The Sector Deal did not include measures on this specific recommendation. However, Sector Deals are iterative and recommendations not taken forward in the first phase may be considered for future phases or alternative policy delivery routes.

The LSIS recommends that ‘Value assessments should be evolved in the long-term with improved patient outcome measures, affordability and cost management data extending beyond one year timeframes’. It relates to a number of issues raised in the Accelerated Access Review (AAR) and work is ongoing between the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England to address them as part of the Government’s response to the AAR.

In 2012 NICE reviewed the guidance on technology appraisals, including a public consultation on a potential new value assessment framework. This included amendments to include patient outcome measures. However, the review concluded that there was insufficient consensus to modify the assessment framework at that time. NICE is planning to start the work on the next update to its guide to methods of technology appraisal in 2019.