Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NHS England on the need to recognise levels of unmet need in pancreatic cancer when re-evaluating treatments on the Cancer Drugs Fund.

We have had no such discussions. These are matters for NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund clinical panel.

The panel plans to meet on 15 and 16 December to assess, on the basis of the latest evidence, whether certain drugs should continue to be made routinely available to new patients through the Fund and to consider a number of new drugs for potential addition to the Fund.

In making such decisions, the panel will take into account a number of factors, including unmet need.

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has assured the Department that no patient whose treatment is currently being funded through the Fund will have funding withdrawn, as long as it is clinically appropriate that they continue to receive that treatment.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.