Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that new medicines introduced on the NHS are (a) medically and (b) cost effective.

Most new medicines and significant licence extensions for existing medicines are referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for consideration through its technology appraisal programme. NICE makes recommendations to the National Health Service on whether treatments represent a clinically and cost effective use of NHS resources. NHS commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and other treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance, normally within three months of publication of final guidance.