Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the determined population size for each pharmacological treatment and associated indications which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has (a) recommended for cancer treatment and (b) recommended for cancer treatment under the end-of-life criteria in (i) 2012, (ii) 2013 and (iii) 2014.
Answered by Norman Lamb
Information on National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal recommendations relating to cancer treatments published in 2012, 2013, and 2014, including the estimated size of the eligible patient population and the applicability of the end-of-life flexibilities, is provided in the attached table.
NICE has advised that it publishes a list on its website that includes information on its technology appraisal decisions on cancer treatments. The list, which is updated monthly, includes each appraisal number, year of publication, the appraisal process used, name ofthe technology, the disease or condition for which it has been appraised, the recommendation category and any comments. This information can be found at:
www.nice.org.uk/newsroom/nicestatistics/TADecisions.jsp?domedia=1&mid=CB611E43-19B9-E0B5-D471DEC569F73B12.
NICE does not operate a fixed cost per quality-adjusted life year threshold in its appraisals, but uses a range that allows other factors to be taken into account in deciding whether to recommend a treatment. We are advised that the most likely cost-effectiveness estimate, given as an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, is published on the NICE website and can be found in the ‘Summary of the Appraisal Committee's key conclusions' table within section four of each appraisal's final technology appraisal guidance documents. The same section of this document also sets out whether a treatment was considered under end-of-life criteria. Further information can be found at:
www.nice.org.uk
Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed to work on cancer policy in his Department in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The number of full-time equivalent staff (FTE) in the Department working on cancer policy for each of the past three years has been presented in the following table:
Year | FTE staff |
2010-11 | 18.3 |
2011-12 | 17.1 |
2012-13 | 16.7 |
2013-14 | 3.5 |
Other Departmental staff work on related issues, such as cancer prevention, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance and the Cancer Drugs Fund. From 1 April 2013, NHS England (rather than the Department) has been responsible for delivering improvements in all cancer services, with Public Health England (PHE) responsible for aspects of cancer screening, immunisation, prevention and symptom awareness.
To reflect new structures, a number of posts were created in NHS England and PHE, taking on some of the responsibilities of the previous Departmental Cancer Policy team.
Asked by: John Leech (Liberal Democrat - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by NHS England to work on cancer policy at a national level in each of the last two years.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The information requested on staffing levels is not held centrally. Prior to 1 April 2013, staffing levels for both clinical networks, including cancer networks, and strategic health authorities, including staff working specifically in cancer networks, were a matter for local National Health Service organisations.
NHS England does not employ people to work on disease-specific policy areas. It is structured according to five domains of the NHS Outcomes Framework. Only National Clinical Directors (NCD) are employed to work on specific conditions. There is one NCD for cancer employed on a 0.4 full-time equivalent basis. It is likely that most directorates will have roles contributing to improved outcomes for people with, and at risk of cancer, but NHS England does not record staff time in a way which would make this quantifiable.