Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to authorise GPs to issue prescriptions for Fampridine for multiple sclerosis patients at the standard NHS prescription charge.

It is for the prescribing clinician to decide on the most appropriate course of treatment for their patient. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) current recommendation is that fampridine is not a cost-effective treatment for lack of mobility in people with multiple sclerosis. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s commissioning policy concluded in 2016 that there is not enough evidence to make the treatment available at that time. However, NICE is currently updating its guideline on multiple sclerosis, including to take account of new evidence on the effectiveness of fampridine for treating mobility in people with multiple sclerosis. NICE currently expects to publish final updated guidance in July 2022.