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NHS: Drugs

Volume 479: debated on Monday 1 September 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of NHS trusts which make use of the CPORT tool to plan for the safe introduction of new drugs. (220961)

Currently around 63 trusts have access to C-PORT and are being trained to use the tool to assess the impact of drugs. Roll out continues across 20 Cancer Networks who are at various stages in learning how to use the tool.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the extent to which patients who have been denied funding for National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)-approved drugs by their primary care trust (PCT) are aware of the obligations on PCTs to fund NICE-approved drugs; what assessment he has made of the extent to which patients will become more aware of these obligations as a result of the inclusion of this right in the NHS constitution; and what proportion of patients who have been denied funding for NICE-approved drugs he estimates will have access to NICE-approved drugs following the changes proposed in High Quality Care for All, Cm 7432. (221137)

Our overall assessment is that compliance with technology appraisal guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is high and that patients are not routinely denied treatments that have been recommended by NICE.

Research with patients and the public suggests that, while the perceived “postcode lottery” for access to drugs is a major concern, many people are unaware of the process for funding drugs and treatments and are not aware that primary care trusts already have a statutory responsibility to fund drugs and treatments that are recommended in NICE's technology appraisal guidance. The Government believe that the NHS Constitution can play an important part in addressing these issues.

The draft NHS Constitution was published on 30 June 2008 (copies have already been placed in the Library) and the Government's proposals are open for public consultation until 17 October 2008. The Government will consider these issues following the consultation.