Asked by: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether appropriate treatment for patients with plasma disorders such as haemophilia and primary immunodeficiency, as provided for under the statutory scheme for branded medicines, will continue to be provided following the review of that scheme by the Department of Health.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
We are continuing to consider carefully all the consultation responses. It is important we get these changes right for patients, the National Health Service and industry. We want to look in particular at the impact on small and medium sized businesses, while securing the medicines patients need at a cost which the NHS can afford.
Asked by: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the acute adult dermatology service at Nottingham University Hospital is to be closed; and whether they have assessed the effect that that decision will have upon patients in the area affected by skin diseases.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The provision of services, including dermatology services, is a matter for the local National Health Service.
The NHS Trust Development Authority advises that since 2 February 2015 Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust has not been able to provide a comprehensive adult dermatology service. It no longer has sufficient consultant dermatologist capacity to sustain such a service.
The Trust has worked with commissioners to ensure a satisfactory service is available to local people from alternative providers.
Rushcliffe Clinical Commissioning Group has commissioned a review to assess what is needed to meet the needs of the population in the future.
Asked by: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what effect they consider the loss of six consultant dermatologists in Nottingham will have upon direct services to the local community and the training of junior doctors and medical students.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
This Government established Health Education England to co-ordinate education and training activity across the National Health Service, including the management of training programmes for junior doctors. Health Education England and the Local Education and Training Board in the East Midlands are best placed to work with local employers in Nottingham to understand and manage the impact of changes.
Asked by: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they propose to respond to the survey of Acute Neurology Services issued by the Association of British Neurologists in December; and what action they plan to take to ensure that clearly defined quality standards in acute neurology are achieved evenly throughout the United Kingdom in the near future.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
NHS England recognises that, as this report from the Association of British Neurologists (ABN) shows, there is room for improvement in the way neurology services are delivered in acute settings. It has been working with the ABN, the Neurological Alliance, the National Clinical Director for Neurological Conditions and representatives from the Strategic Clinical Networks to develop a framework for improving neurology standards within acute settings.
The aim of this framework, which is in the process of being developed, is to help patients and their carers understand what standard of care they should expect, and to support clinicians, National Health Service staff, commissioners and others in the NHS and elsewhere that are responsible for the care of people with neurological conditions to understand how Acute services can be better delivered.
Neurological care in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is matter for the devolved administrations of those countries.
Asked by: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have withdrawn approval of the drug Translarna, introduced for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, despite the preliminary results achieved in some patients in trials in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government has not withdrawn any approvals for Translarna (ataluren).
We understand that a draft clinical commissioning policy to cover the use of Translarna for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy is currently going through NHS England's standard development and decision making processes.
NHS England remains committed to ensuring that a timely decision is made about this treatment as one of a range of investment proposals that has been put forward for the 2015-16 financial year.
NHS England continues to keep the range of services and treatments available to patients under review as new evidence and expert guidance becomes available.
Asked by: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish a report on the work of the Rare Diseases Advisory Group, indicating the extent to which its recommendations have influenced the decisions of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Rare Diseases Advisory Group (RDAG) was established by NHS England to provide it and the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with consistent advice on developing and implementing the strategy for rare diseases and highly specialised services. The RDAG is directly accountable to the NHS England Clinical Priorities Advisory Group. The group’s terms of reference state that the agendas and minutes from their meetings are available on the NHS England website. The Department has no plans to publish any further reports on RDAG’s work.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops its guidance independently, based on the available evidence and in consultation with stakeholders. NICE is a full member of RDAG. NHS England is a stakeholder in all NICE’s highly specialised technology guidance and may seek advice from the RDAG in engaging with NICE’s guidance development processes.
Asked by: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to bring forward regulations which will permit the implantation of embryos free of harmful mitochondrial mutations into the uterus of women carrying such harmful mutations.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government will update Parliament as soon as possible with regard to these regulations.
Asked by: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they propose to make available for prescription under the National Health Service orphan and ultra-orphan drugs for the treatment of rare diseases now emerging as a result of recent research discoveries.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
It is for clinicians to make prescribing decisions based on their patients’ individual clinical needs.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended a number of drugs, designated by the European Union as orphan drugs, in technology appraisal guidance. NICE is also responsible for the evaluation of selected high cost, low volume drugs under its Highly Specialised Technologies Programme.
National Health Service commissioners are legally obliged to provide funding for drugs that have been recommended in NICE technology appraisals or highly specialised technologies evaluations.
We are commissioning an external review of the pathways for the development, assessment, and adoption of innovative medicines and medical technology. This review will consider how to speed up access for NHS patients to cost-effective new diagnostics, medicines and devices.
Asked by: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in view of developments in genomic medicine and the case for communicating accurately and sensitively the significance of genomic data to patients, they will reconsider the possibility of mandatory registration of genomic counsellors.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government has emphasised the importance of developing a well-trained National Health Service work force to benefit from the advances in genomic medicine. The education and training requirements of genetic counsellors and their regulatory arrangements are currently being considered as part of the Health Education England’s Genomics Programme. NHS England is focused on ensuring it fulfils its contribution to meeting the objectives of the 100,000 Genomes Project and the elements for which it is accountable. This includes establishing NHS Genomic Medicine Centres through a robust procurement process, as part of which all potential NHS Genomic Medicine Centres will be required to demonstrate what arrangements they will put in place to ensure validated findings are fed back to patients in an appropriate and timely manner.
Asked by: Lord Walton of Detchant (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how individual funding requests relating to the prescription of Duodopa for patients with advanced Parkinsonism are handled in the National Health Service.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
In April 2013 NHS England assumed responsibility for commissioning adult specialist neurosciences services, including the majority of services for people with Parkinson's disease.
Individual funding requests relating to treatments that NHS England is responsible for commissioning are handled in line with NHS England's individual funding requests standard operating procedure, which is at:
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-04.pdf