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 improve NHS capacity to deliver intravitreal injections for the treatment of geographic atrophy.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is currently supporting clinical trials for medicines relating to geographic atrophy, including intravitreal injections, and will review the quality, safety and efficacy of these products should the manufacturers apply for licences.

All new licensed medicines are then appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), with guidance issued shortly thereafter. In the absence of NICE’s guidance, local commissioners should consider the evidence available, with the infrastructure and resources needed locally before determining whether to fund new treatments. This will include consideration of the local National Health Service’s capacity to deliver the treatment.