Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to allocate enough funding to cover predicted changes in the cost of cancer care beyond treatment.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July this year. It identified improving support for people living with and beyond cancer, and improving long-term quality of life as high priorities.
NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the Taskforce report. A cross-system Cancer Transformation Board, chaired by the new National Cancer Director, Cally Palmer, will be established to oversee implementation of the strategy, and will have its first meeting in early 2016. The Transformation Board will formulate more detailed plans for implementation of the report’s recommendations based on the final outcome of the spending review. More details will be available in early 2016.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the reasons for removing treatment options for (a) multiple myeloma and (b) other rare cancers from the Cancer Drugs Fund.
Answered by George Freeman
No such assessment has been made. NHS England is responsible for the operational management of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) and decisions on which treatments are included on the national CDF list are made by the CDF expert clinical panel, which includes expert oncologists, oncology pharmacists and patient representatives.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of removing treatments for multiple myeloma from the Cancer Drugs Fund on investment in clinical trials for that condition in the UK.
Answered by George Freeman
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 September 2015 to Question 10093.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for NHS policies of the use of a regional eye inspection liaison officer in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Health and Social Care Board Northern Ireland (HSCB) have funded Eye Care Liaison Officers since 2012. The HSCB are not aware of any regional eye inspection liaison officers in Northern Ireland.
In England, the Government fully appreciates the impact that sight loss can have on a person’s life and the importance of information being available for those newly diagnosed with sight loss, including signposting patients to appropriate support and rehabilitation services.
Eye clinics and their staffing, including eye clinic liaison officers, are commissioned and funded by individual clinical commissioning groups on the basis of local assessments of need.