Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans her Department has to carry out an impact assessment on the effect of an increased voluntary scheme for branded medicine rate to a projected 23.7 per cent in 2023 upon the supply of medicines to the NHS.

The Department has no plans to carry out an impact assessment on the 2023 payment percentage. The Department’s standard practice is to set the payment percentage based on measured sales. The payment percentage projected for 2023 is in line with Department projections shared with industry when the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS) was agreed.

We have seen no evidence that increased VPAS payments have or will impact on the supply of medicines to the National Health Service. Where payment rates may put pressure on the profitability of individual products, there are provisions in the scheme for companies to apply for a price increase.