To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on NHS funding of a growing list of NICE approved treatments. [101577]

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Dr. Evan Harris) on 12 February 2003, Official Report, column 824W. The cost of implementing appraisal guidance issued by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence has been taken into account in the funding provided to the national health service.