Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase access to cannabis-based medicinal products on the NHS.

Licensed cannabis-based medicines are routinely available on the National Health Service. However, clinical guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines.

Funding of unlicensed products is subject to local NHS decisions on a case-by-case basis. These decisions follow clearly developed procedures that ensure equitable distribution of funding, prioritising those medicines that have proved their safety, quality and clinical and cost effectiveness.

We continue to call on manufacturers to conduct research to prove if their products are safe and effective and we are working with regulatory, research and NHS partners to establish clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of these products.