Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by NICE entitled Covid-19 rapid guideline: managing symptoms (including at the end of life) in the community, NG163, published on 3 April 2020, which medical experts were consulted during the commissioning process.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline NG163, published in 2020, was commissioned in accordance with an established agreement between NHS England and NICE. The focus at that time was given to providing rapid guidance on the management of affected patients with COVID-19. The following organisations were consulted on the guideline:
- Association for Palliative Medicine;
- Palliative Care Formulary;
- Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre;
- Cicely Saunders Institute;
- NHS England;
- ICU Steps;
- Macmillan Cancer Support;
- Marie Curie;
- National Audit for Care at the End of Life;
- Palliative Care for Wales;
- Royal College of General Practitioners;
- Royal College of Physicians; and
- Sue Ryder.
The following organisations provided general practice consultation on the guidance:
- NICE GP Reference Group; and
- RCGP Network.
A number of NICE’s COVID-19 rapid guidelines were subsequently incorporated into a single guideline, NG191, for the management of COVID-19 in children and adults. The list of panel members for this guideline is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng191/documents/register-of-interests-2
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the stock of approved antiviral treatments of COVID-19, including those recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in August are made readily available to all vulnerable patients.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The stock of COVID-19 antivirals owned by the Department is available to those who are eligible for treatment in line with an interim clinical commissioning policy for England and the Devolved Nations or National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommendations. Stocks are distributed in England in response to orders received from community pharmacies and National Health Service secondary care trusts who operate under arrangements put in place by the relevant NHS Commissioning Boards. Proportionate allocations have been made to the Devolved Nations and detailed distribution arrangements lie within the remit of the respective national systems.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase awareness of (1) eligibility for COVID-19 post-exposure treatments, and (2) how to access to COVID-19 post-exposure treatments.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information for patients’ awareness of COVID-19 treatments and how to access treatments is published by the National Health Service and is available on the NHS.uk website in an online-only format. The NHS will continue to communicate to people, including those most vulnerable to COVID-19, about available clinical interventions, including vaccination and treatments, as well as testing and public health advice.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish guidance to Integrated Care Boards on the availability of antivirals for immunocompromised patients with a covid infection.
Answered by Will Quince
From 27 June, the pathway for COVID-19 treatments transitioned from the former national pandemic-specific arrangements to more routine local arrangements for assessment and treatment
This transition follows the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance that was published 29 March 2023 and which recommended two treatments for non-hospitalised patients at highest risk, and one treatment for use in those hospitalised due to COVID-19. These are Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir) from Pfizer, Xevudy (sotrovimab) from GlaxoSmithKline and RoActemra (tocilizumab) from Roche.
This guidance will ensure that everyone with COVID-19 at the highest risk of progressing to severe disease, will have access to clinically and cost-effective treatments, which will be routinely available to eligible patients on the National Health Service. The NHS is required to have medicines available within 90 days of a positive NICE appraisal. Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) have therefore had up to 90 days to make funding available for these treatments and to secure arrange local access through routine NHS pathways.
NHS England continues to meet with regional colleagues on a weekly basis to help them to facilitate the local transition and to understand if ICBs have any new or emerging issues requiring support.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with representatives of charities supporting people who are vulnerable to Covid-19 on the transition of responsibility for the delivery of post-exposure treatments for Covid-19 from Covd-19 Medicine Delivery Units to Integrated Care Boards.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England is working closely with local health systems and supporting integrated care boards (ICBs) to develop service delivery plans which ensure continued timely access to assessment and treatment for COVID-19 that meet the needs of their local populations. To support the transition away from pandemic-specific arrangements NHS England is regularly engaging with charities, patient groups and other stakeholders to understand where national and local action may be required to ensure transition readiness. The NHS will continue to communicate to people most vulnerable to COVID-19 about available clinical interventions, including vaccination and treatments, as well as testing and public health advice.
ICBs are responsible for the continued delivery of COVID-19 treatments, including where appropriate transitioning the delivery of community-based COVID-19 treatments away from COVID-19 Medicine Delivery Units to routine care pathways by the end of this month. ICBs have the flexibility to create a routine patient access pathway that best meets local needs and circumstances, including for immunocompromised patients.
ICBs are responsible for their own plans and commissioning schedules. This information is not held centrally by the department.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide information to people vulnerable to Covid-19 on the transition of responsibility for delivering post-exposure treatments for Covid-19 from Covid-19 Medicine Delivery Units to Integrated Care Boards.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England is working closely with local health systems and supporting integrated care boards (ICBs) to develop service delivery plans which ensure continued timely access to assessment and treatment for COVID-19 that meet the needs of their local populations. To support the transition away from pandemic-specific arrangements NHS England is regularly engaging with charities, patient groups and other stakeholders to understand where national and local action may be required to ensure transition readiness. The NHS will continue to communicate to people most vulnerable to COVID-19 about available clinical interventions, including vaccination and treatments, as well as testing and public health advice.
ICBs are responsible for the continued delivery of COVID-19 treatments, including where appropriate transitioning the delivery of community-based COVID-19 treatments away from COVID-19 Medicine Delivery Units to routine care pathways by the end of this month. ICBs have the flexibility to create a routine patient access pathway that best meets local needs and circumstances, including for immunocompromised patients.
ICBs are responsible for their own plans and commissioning schedules. This information is not held centrally by the department.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Integrated Care Boards have produced plans for transitioning responsibility for the delivery of post-exposure treatments for Covid-19 from Covid-19 Medicine Delivery Units.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England is working closely with local health systems and supporting integrated care boards (ICBs) to develop service delivery plans which ensure continued timely access to assessment and treatment for COVID-19 that meet the needs of their local populations. To support the transition away from pandemic-specific arrangements NHS England is regularly engaging with charities, patient groups and other stakeholders to understand where national and local action may be required to ensure transition readiness. The NHS will continue to communicate to people most vulnerable to COVID-19 about available clinical interventions, including vaccination and treatments, as well as testing and public health advice.
ICBs are responsible for the continued delivery of COVID-19 treatments, including where appropriate transitioning the delivery of community-based COVID-19 treatments away from COVID-19 Medicine Delivery Units to routine care pathways by the end of this month. ICBs have the flexibility to create a routine patient access pathway that best meets local needs and circumstances, including for immunocompromised patients.
ICBs are responsible for their own plans and commissioning schedules. This information is not held centrally by the department.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of pressure on primary care services and the challenges of out of hours, weekend and holiday access provision, how immunocompromised people can access anti-virals to mitigate COVID-19 infection once GPs are responsible for dispensing these; and what assurances they can provide that a system will be in place to ensure there are no difficulties in accessing treatments by the end of June when the Covid Medicines Delivery Units are disbanded.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published final guidance on COVID-19 treatments on 29 March 2023, a copy of which is attached, in line with their statutory responsibilities. Integrated care boards (ICBs) in England have 90 days from this date to make funding available and to implement the treatment recommendations. NHS England has asked ICBs to maintain access to COVID-19 treatments through COVID-19 Medicines Delivery Units (CMDUs), or equivalent local arrangements, during the NICE 90-day implementation period.
ICBs are responsible for the continued delivery of COVID-19 treatments, including where appropriate transitioning the delivery of community-based COVID-19 treatments away from CMDUs to routine care pathways by the end of June. ICBs have the flexibility to create a routine patient access pathway that best meets local needs and circumstances.
During the 90-day implementation period, NHS England is working closely with ICBs to ensure that new routine services continue to provide timely access to assessment and treatment for COVID-19 infection. In addition, NHS England is engaging with charities, patient groups and other stakeholders to understand where any further national support is required to facilitate the transition and providing national communications to patients, healthcare professionals and local system leaders to ensure clarity on upcoming changes.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what provision is being made for immunocompromised people who are struggling financially from the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its ongoing challenges for those still vulnerable to the virus; and how they will support those affected in the light of their prescription waiver on anti-viral drugs being withdrawn
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Treatments for COVID-19 are available free of charge on the National Health Service in England for eligible high-risk patients with a positive COVID-19 test result. In addition, the charge waiver will continue to apply to therapeutic treatments made available through the HEAL-COVID and STIMULATE-ICP trials.
There are also a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place, covering children, pregnant women, those over 60 years old, people on certain income related benefits or whose partner is in receipt of those benefits as well as those with specific medical conditions. Around 89% of prescription items are free on the NHS in England. On top of that, people on a low income can apply for support through the NHS Low Income Scheme, and all patients can also buy a pre-payment certificate which covers all the items they need for just over £2 per week.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to (a) develop and (b) implement a rapid system of evaluating new protective and prophylactic Covid-19 drugs and treatments.
Answered by Will Quince
As we move out of the pandemic response, it is right that existing methods for understanding the clinical and cost-effectiveness of medicines are used to inform routine commissioning arrangements, including for new COVID-19 drugs and treatments.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent, expert body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources.
As part of supporting this transition, NICE published final guidance on 29 March that recommends three medicines as options for treating COVID-19 in adults. Because new COVID-19 variants develop over time, NICE is also developing a new review process to update its recommendations on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of COVID-19 treatments, so they can be made available more quickly to patients if they show promise against new variants and are found to be cost-effective. A four-week public consultation on proposals for the new rapid update process was launched on 6 April.
New medicines for COVID-19 that are referred to NICE by the Department will be evaluated through NICE’s technology appraisal process. NICE aims to publish guidance within 90 days of marketing authorisation (licensing) being issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. NICE works with stakeholders to align its appraisal timelines with the regulatory process.