Asked by: Julian Huppert (Liberal Democrat - Cambridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will review regulations applying to the licensing of the drug Avastin for use in eye conditions, in response to recent research on that drug's safety and efficacy compared to licensed alternatives.
Answered by George Freeman
The European framework for licensing of medicines is designed to ensure medicines that are placed on the market have been tested for safety, quality and efficacy and the system confers important benefits for patients and the healthcare system. Avastin is not licensed for the treatment of eye conditions and has not been assessed by the regulatory authorities for the treatment of eye conditions. However, clinicians may decide to use an off label or unlicensed medicine in cases where there is not a licensed medicine available to meet the clinical needs of an individual patient. There are no plans at this time to review the regulations that apply to licensing of medicines.
Asked by: Julian Huppert (Liberal Democrat - Cambridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made by the working group established to develop a robust process to support the sustainable long-term commissioning of cancer drugs; when he expects the outcomes of their work to be published; and what steps he will take to reduce variations in access to cancer drugs depending on when an application to the Cancer Drugs Fund is made.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England has advised that its Cancer Drugs Fund Working Party has held its first meeting and discussed its draft principles and terms of reference for its work.
The Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) runs a notification system for drug/indications included on the national CDF list. In order to commence treatment with these drugs, clinicians complete an application online and, where a patient’s needs meet the clinical criteria, they are able to access the drug(s) without any administrative delay. This is an equal system for all if the conditions are met for the drug/indication.
If the drug/indication is not on the national CDF list, an individual CDF request can be made. These are currently assessed on a regional basis. NHS England works closely with the regional teams to ensure consistency in decision making through training, sharing information and the use of a shared database.
Asked by: Julian Huppert (Liberal Democrat - Cambridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many GP practices will be required to reduce patient services due to the phased withdrawal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee; what estimate he has made of how many GP practices he expects will be required to close for the same reason; what steps his Department has taken to support GP practices experiencing savings to their budgets as a consequence of that withdrawal; and what plans his Department has to revise the funding formula for postgraduate students.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Since April 2013, NHS England has been responsible for ensuring the provision of primary care services in England. NHS England is not aware of any that have closed as a result of the withdrawal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee (MPIG) and has not estimated whether any will have to reduce services.
The funding released from MPIG will be reinvested into the basic payments made to all General Medical Services practices. For the majority of practices, there will be a net gain in practice income. The phasing of these changes over seven years will allow the minority of practices that lose funding to adjust gradually to the reduction in payments and NHS England is supporting the most affected practices to adjust to the changes.
The Carr-Hill formula, which is used to determine allocations to general practitioner practices, is currently under review by NHS England.