Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with NHS England on the fast track interim policy agreed by NHS England during the appraisal of sofosbuvir by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence.

NHS England has advised that it is currently developing interim proposals to allow selected patients with cirrhosis to have early access to some of the new drugs that are expected to be available to treat hepatitis C later in 2015. NHS England aims to have these interim policies in place by the first half of 2015.

These will provide access to treatment in advance of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s final technology appraisal guidance on these products which is expected to be published shortly.