To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance she has issued to trusts on whether they should continue to fund anti-TNF treatments for ankylosing spondylitis prior to the results of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s appraisal of anti-TNFs being made available; (140400)

Funding for licensed treatments should not be withheld because guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is unavailable. In December 2006, we issued good practice guidance which asks national health service bodies to continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies where guidance from NICE is not available at the time the treatment or technology first became available.

In February 2007, NICE’s appraisal committee commissioned further analysis to inform its appraisal of adalimumab, etanercept and infliximab for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. NICE are now expecting to publish final guidance to the NHS in June 2007.