Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with patient groups on the updates to the NICE health technology evaluations manual, and in particular (1) treatments at the end of a Cancer Drugs Fund access agreement no longer being assessed against the criteria supporting their original recommendation, and (2) the replacement of the end of life criteria with a severity modifier.

The Department has had no discussions and has made no current plans. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for developing the methods and processes it uses and engaged with a wide range of stakeholders during the development of its updated manual for health technology evaluations, including on the severity modifier. Patient groups were directly involved in the methods review in the working group, task and finish groups and in two public consultations. Additionally, NICE engaged separately with industry and patient groups on the impact of the changes to it methods and processes for medicines currently in the Cancer Drugs Fund.

NICE also works closely with patient groups and other stakeholders in the development of its guidance on individual technologies. In 2022/23, 89% of NICE’s final recommendations on cancer drugs were positive, including all of the cancer medicines appraised using NICE’s updated methods and processes. No cancer medicines have completed their exit from the CDF using NICE’s updated methods and processes. However, NICE has released positive final draft guidance for the first, which treats a blood cancer.

If NICE determines at the end of a managed access period that a technology is not a good use of National Health Service resources, then people already having treatment may continue until they and their NHS clinician consider it appropriate to stop.