Crispin Blunt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 10 of NHS England’s Strategic Framework for Specialised Services board paper, published in May 2016, what plans his Department has to issue directions to NICE regarding the adoption of its guidance by NHS England for treatments recommended through (a) the technology appraisal programme and (b) the highly specialised treatment evaluation programme.

George Freeman

The Department has no plans to issue any such directions to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

NHS England and clinical commissioning groups are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies guidance issued by the NICE, normally within three months of the publication of the NICE’s guidance.

Following NHS England’s review of its specialised commissioning processes and the publication in the summer of the final report from the Accelerated Access Review, we anticipate the NICE will want to look at its processes and methods for the assessment of drugs and treatments used in specialised commissioning.