Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing time-limited interim access pathways for rare cancer treatments where published clinical evidence and specialist expertise already exist but routine commissioning routes are not yet in place.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, including metastatic ocular melanoma patients, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the National Health Service will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.
The Department remains committed to ensuring that rare cancer patients, including those with metastatic ocular melanoma, have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support.
Tebentafusp is a licensed treatment for uveal melanoma and has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and funded by NHS England since December 2024. Since funding commenced, over 100 patients have been registered to start treatment. At present, NHS England is not aware of any delays in access to Tebentafusp for eligible patients.
Alongside Tebentafusp, a policy proposition for melphalan chemosaturation was accepted onto the NHS England policy development work programme in March 2025, in line with the Methods for National Clinical Policies. Development of this policy is ongoing following receipt of the external evidence review. Progress updates are published through the NHS England Clinical Commissioning Work Programme, and NICE is concurrently updating its guidance. Until revised guidance is issued, the NHS continues to follow the recommendations in the current version.
The development of a Clinical Commissioning policy will determine both if the evidence is now sufficient to enable making the treatment routinely available and, if it is, whether to allocate service development funding to implement it across the NHS in England.
NHS England’s Individual Funding Request (IFR) Policy provides the framework through which requests outside routinely commissioned arrangements are considered. The IFR framework was last reviewed in 2022 and ensures fairness, consistency, and transparency in decision‑making across all applications relating to medicines, devices, or surgical interventions that fall within NHS England’s commissioning responsibilities.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have considered changes to the use of individual funding requests for rare cancer treatments, particularly the requirement for exceptionality, for patients who have no alternative clinically appropriate treatment options.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, including metastatic ocular melanoma patients, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the National Health Service will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.
The Department remains committed to ensuring that rare cancer patients, including those with metastatic ocular melanoma, have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support.
Tebentafusp is a licensed treatment for uveal melanoma and has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and funded by NHS England since December 2024. Since funding commenced, over 100 patients have been registered to start treatment. At present, NHS England is not aware of any delays in access to Tebentafusp for eligible patients.
Alongside Tebentafusp, a policy proposition for melphalan chemosaturation was accepted onto the NHS England policy development work programme in March 2025, in line with the Methods for National Clinical Policies. Development of this policy is ongoing following receipt of the external evidence review. Progress updates are published through the NHS England Clinical Commissioning Work Programme, and NICE is concurrently updating its guidance. Until revised guidance is issued, the NHS continues to follow the recommendations in the current version.
The development of a Clinical Commissioning policy will determine both if the evidence is now sufficient to enable making the treatment routinely available and, if it is, whether to allocate service development funding to implement it across the NHS in England.
NHS England’s Individual Funding Request (IFR) Policy provides the framework through which requests outside routinely commissioned arrangements are considered. The IFR framework was last reviewed in 2022 and ensures fairness, consistency, and transparency in decision‑making across all applications relating to medicines, devices, or surgical interventions that fall within NHS England’s commissioning responsibilities.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of delays in commissioning decisions on (1) outcomes, and (2) quality of life, for patients with rare cancers.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, including metastatic ocular melanoma patients, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the National Health Service will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.
The Department remains committed to ensuring that rare cancer patients, including those with metastatic ocular melanoma, have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support.
Tebentafusp is a licensed treatment for uveal melanoma and has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and funded by NHS England since December 2024. Since funding commenced, over 100 patients have been registered to start treatment. At present, NHS England is not aware of any delays in access to Tebentafusp for eligible patients.
Alongside Tebentafusp, a policy proposition for melphalan chemosaturation was accepted onto the NHS England policy development work programme in March 2025, in line with the Methods for National Clinical Policies. Development of this policy is ongoing following receipt of the external evidence review. Progress updates are published through the NHS England Clinical Commissioning Work Programme, and NICE is concurrently updating its guidance. Until revised guidance is issued, the NHS continues to follow the recommendations in the current version.
The development of a Clinical Commissioning policy will determine both if the evidence is now sufficient to enable making the treatment routinely available and, if it is, whether to allocate service development funding to implement it across the NHS in England.
NHS England’s Individual Funding Request (IFR) Policy provides the framework through which requests outside routinely commissioned arrangements are considered. The IFR framework was last reviewed in 2022 and ensures fairness, consistency, and transparency in decision‑making across all applications relating to medicines, devices, or surgical interventions that fall within NHS England’s commissioning responsibilities.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what interim arrangements are in place to ensure timely access to clinically appropriate treatments for patients with rare cancers, including metastatic ocular melanoma, while longer term commissioning decisions are under consideration.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, including metastatic ocular melanoma patients, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the National Health Service will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.
The Department remains committed to ensuring that rare cancer patients, including those with metastatic ocular melanoma, have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support.
Tebentafusp is a licensed treatment for uveal melanoma and has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and funded by NHS England since December 2024. Since funding commenced, over 100 patients have been registered to start treatment. At present, NHS England is not aware of any delays in access to Tebentafusp for eligible patients.
Alongside Tebentafusp, a policy proposition for melphalan chemosaturation was accepted onto the NHS England policy development work programme in March 2025, in line with the Methods for National Clinical Policies. Development of this policy is ongoing following receipt of the external evidence review. Progress updates are published through the NHS England Clinical Commissioning Work Programme, and NICE is concurrently updating its guidance. Until revised guidance is issued, the NHS continues to follow the recommendations in the current version.
The development of a Clinical Commissioning policy will determine both if the evidence is now sufficient to enable making the treatment routinely available and, if it is, whether to allocate service development funding to implement it across the NHS in England.
NHS England’s Individual Funding Request (IFR) Policy provides the framework through which requests outside routinely commissioned arrangements are considered. The IFR framework was last reviewed in 2022 and ensures fairness, consistency, and transparency in decision‑making across all applications relating to medicines, devices, or surgical interventions that fall within NHS England’s commissioning responsibilities.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that patients with rare cancers are not without access to potentially life extending treatments while national appraisal and commissioning processes are ongoing.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government wants to ensure that all National Health Service patients, including patients with rare cancers, are able to benefit from rapid access to effective new medicines in a way that represents value to the taxpayer.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) aims wherever possible to issue recommendations for the NHS on new medicines close to the time of licensing so that patients have rapid access to clinically and cost-effective medicines. The NHS is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE within three months of the publication of final guidance. NHS England funds NICE-recommended cancer medicines through the Cancer Drugs Fund from the point of positive draft NICE guidance, bringing forward patient access by approximately five months than would otherwise be the case.
The measures that we announced in the Life Sciences Sector Plan will further streamline the licensing and NICE appraisal processes reducing the time between marketing authorisation and national funding decisions.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of hospitals that will have an adequate oxygen supply during a major national emergency or future pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The supply of oxygen to hospitals is managed through contractual arrangements between individual National Health Service organisations and their respective commercial supplier(s). Each organisation is responsible for ensuring that its oxygen supply meets clinical and operational needs, including planning for emergencies.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many intensive care units are equipped with scavenging devices to allow for a decrease in the use of disposable plastics.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure intensive care is adequately resourced to deal with the next pandemic or major national emergency.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will continue to support the National Health Service with the investment and reform it needs so it is there for patients when they need it most.
Our approach, based on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and previous outbreaks, is to ensure that there are flexible, adaptable and scalable capabilities that can respond to any future novel disease or threat to public health.
While acute care resourcing decisions are made at a local level, the existing Adult Critical Care Surge Plan provides guidance on a consistent approach by which providers of adult critical care services can escalate capacity pressures locally, regionally and nationally for action. A copy of the plan is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many intensive care unit directors are involved in disaster planning at a local level.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Exercise PEGASUS will aim to test our ability to respond to a pandemic, involving all regions and nations of the United Kingdom and thousands of participants.
At a local level, Exercise Pegasus is being delivered through regional teams and integrated care board (ICB) structures. It is the responsibility of the local system to engage National Health Service providers as necessary.
The NHS needs to plan for and respond to a wide range of incidents and emergencies which could affect health or patient care. The extent of clinical stakeholders in emergency planning will be determined by local arrangements and operational needs.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many intensive care units are contributing to Exercise Pegasus, and what are the hospital trusts involved in that exercise.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Exercise PEGASUS will aim to test our ability to respond to a pandemic, involving all regions and nations of the United Kingdom and thousands of participants.
At a local level, Exercise Pegasus is being delivered through regional teams and integrated care board (ICB) structures. It is the responsibility of the local system to engage National Health Service providers as necessary.
The NHS needs to plan for and respond to a wide range of incidents and emergencies which could affect health or patient care. The extent of clinical stakeholders in emergency planning will be determined by local arrangements and operational needs.