To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average amount of time has been to implement NICE guidance on the use of drugs; and if he will make a statement on the delays in implementing the NICE recommendation for the use of modern antipsychotic drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia. [l13796]
National Institute for Clinical Excellence appraisals must be funded by National Health Service trusts within the three months of the
| Health bodies within Wakefield Health Authority-Payments to acquire fixed assets | |||||
| (£000) | |||||
| NHS Body | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 |
| Wakefield HA | 0 | 53 | 5 | 61 | 0 |
| Wakefield and Pontefract Comm NHS Trust | 2,355 | 2,723 | 13,500 | 1,731 | 1,447 |
| Pinderfields and Pontefract NHS Trust | 1,332 | 1,569 | 4,125 | 3,916 | 10,997 |
| Eastern Wakefield PCT | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wakefield West PCT | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 3,687 | 4,345 | 17,630 | 5,708 | 12,444 |
Sources:
1997–98 to 2001–02—NHS audited summarisation schedules
1997–98 to 1998–99—Health Authority audited annual accounts
1999–2000 to 2000–02—Health Authority audited summarisation forms
2001–02—Primary Care Trust audited summarisation schedules
guidance being released as per the direction, unless it is specifically stated otherwise. The necessary funding has been made available to the NHS to allow this to happen.
Clinicians will still have to make a judgement on the appropriateness of the guidance for each individual case they deal with, on the basis of clinical evidence.
No research on the precise time taken for each piece of appraisal guidance to be implemented has been conducted by the Department of Health at this time.
The share of atypical antipsychotics within the total number of prescription items for all antipsychotic drugs thai: are dispensed in the community has risen from 44 per cent, in the period October to December 2001 to 53 per cent, in the same period in 2002.