Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry on the Off-patent Drugs Bill.
Answered by George Freeman
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry attended and contributed to the Department’s Roundtable Event of February 2015 ‘Translating evidence in to clinical practice’ which gathered key stakeholders including Breast Cancer Now and other charities, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the British Generic Manufacturers Association, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and many other NHS organisations.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what arrangements are in place to ensure the effective coordination of mental health provision in prisons in England and Wales.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Mandate commits NHS England to provide better healthcare for people in the criminal justice system in England, including improved mental health care.
NHS England’s new national specifications for health and justice services will help to promote effective and coordinated mental health services across the prison estate in England. All 116 prison establishments now have clear commissioning strategies to improve service delivery.
NHS England has developed new performance indicators for prison healthcare with partners including the National Offender Management Service. These Health and Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs) will provide assurance that healthcare delivery in prisons, including mental health care, is fit for purpose. The first HJIP results are expected to be available in autumn 2015.
Mental healthcare provision in Welsh prisons is a matter for the Welsh Government.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of recent research by the Institute of Cancer Research into the effect of a genetically created herpes-based virus as a remedy against forms of skin cancer.
Answered by George Freeman
Talimogene laherparepvec (T-Vec) is still undergoing clinical trials and has not yet been licensed for the treatment of malignant melanoma by the regulatory authorities in either the United States or the European Union.
The Department has made no specfic assessment of research findings into its use to treat melanoma.
We take the issue of ensuring rapid access to innovative therapies very seriously, which is why we have launched an Accelerated Access Review to make recommendations to Government later in the year on speeding up access for National Health Service patients to innovative and cost effective new medicines, diagnostics and medical technologies.