Immunotherapy: Standards

(asked on 30th November 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how the NHS is monitoring (1) the health of patients who (a) have been denied access to immunoglobulin therapy or (b) are on sub-optimal care in relation to immunoglobulin therapy, and (2) the additional cost of patients (a) not having immunoglobulin treatment or (b) being on sub-optimal treatment.


Answered by
Lord Kamall Portrait
Lord Kamall
This question was answered on 13th December 2021

Clinicians are responsible for the ongoing monitoring and assessment of patients who receive sub-optimal immunoglobulin therapy and those who have not received immunoglobulin therapy through existing mechanisms to review patients, such as annual reviews and outpatient face-to-face or virtual appointments.

Sub-regional immunoglobulin assessment panels provide oversight and scrutiny for all patients receiving immunoglobulin therapy. For all disorders where immunoglobulin is used as treatment, treatment decisions are based on NHS England and NHS Improvement’s clinical commissioning criteria for the use of therapeutic immunoglobulin. For patients with secondary antibody deficiency, consensus recommendations from experts in the United Kingdom and Europe and draft European Summary of Product Characteristics for immunoglobulin provide additional evidence to support temporary suspension, reduction in dose or withdrawal of immunoglobulin in selected patients. NHS England and NHS Improvement are unable to quantify the additional cost of patients not receiving immunoglobulin treatment and who may be receiving an alternative treatment such as rituximab or plasma exchange.

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