Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of restrictions imposed by NHS England on the use of the (a) dabrafenib plus trametinib and (b) ipilimumab plus nivolumab drug combinations for use in the treatment of advanced melanoma on patient care.

We have made no such assessment.

NHS England has advised that it has carefully translated the evidence base on which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has based its recommendations of clinical and cost effectiveness into practical clarifications which directly relate to how the recommended drug combinations are incorporated into known treatment pathways in use in England. It has advised that each set of such clarifications is in keeping with the NICE recommendations.