Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Mental Health Bill will have provisions to help tackle loneliness.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government published a draft Mental Health Bill on 23 June 2023 and it remains our intention to bring forward a Mental Health Bill when Parliamentary time allows. The Bill is designed to reform the Mental Health Act 1983, which exists to be able to compel people to stay in hospital and be treated for a severe mental illness. The legislative reforms contained in the Bill aim to provide greater autonomy to individuals to inform their care and treatment, including children and young people. They also aim to ensure that inpatients, including those detained under the Mental Health Act, have improved support to access their rights under the Act. The Bill therefore does not include provisions to tackle loneliness.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport launched the world’s first government strategy on loneliness in October 2018. It set out a clear vision for this country to be a place where we can all have strong social relationships. The Government’s work to tackle loneliness focuses on reducing the stigma associated with loneliness; supporting organisations across society to take action; and improving the evidence base on loneliness.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department plans to take to help ensure children with severe epilepsy can access effective cannabis-based medications through the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Licensed cannabis-based medicines, that have been proved effective in clinical trials and judged cost-effective by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), are routinely available on the National Health Service, including for certain types of epilepsy. However, clinical guidelines from NICE demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines.
We continue to call on manufacturers to conduct research to prove if their products are safe and effective and we are working with regulatory, research and NHS partners to establish clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of these products.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access and (b) the introduction of the severity modifier on decisions of companies to launch medicines in the UK.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is able to recommend the vast majority of cancer medicines it appraises and its approval rate for cancer medicines has consistently been around 90%. NICE concluded a comprehensive review of its methods in January 2022 and has introduced a number of changes that will make its processes fairer and faster, and ensure they provide more equitable access for those with severe diseases. This includes a broader severity modifier to replace the end of life modifier. Analysis carried out by NICE in the development of the modifier indicates that the vast majority of cancer medicines that would be eligible for the end of life modifier would also be eligible for a weighting under the severity modifier. NICE recently reviewed the topics appraised using its new methods and found that of the seven pieces of final guidance published up until December 2022, all seven make positive recommendations. NICE also found that the severity modifier supported a positive recommendation where it was accepted, and plans to further review the implementation of its methods towards the end of 2023.
New innovative medicines do not pay the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access (VPAS) rebate rate for the first three years after marketing authorisation. The National Health Service is a unique proposition for global life sciences companies. With a single commercial deal, a company can have access to a market of over 55 million people. A recent report from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America found that between 2012 and 2021, the United Kingdom was consistently in the top three G20 countries for availability and speed of access to new medicines.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will monitor the impact of the severity modifier on access to new end of life cancer medicines.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is able to recommend the vast majority of cancer medicines it appraises and its approval rate for cancer medicines has consistently been around 90%. NICE concluded a comprehensive review of its methods in January 2022 and has introduced a number of changes that will make its processes fairer and faster, and ensure they provide more equitable access for those with severe diseases. This includes a broader severity modifier to replace the end of life modifier. Analysis carried out by NICE in the development of the modifier indicates that the vast majority of cancer medicines that would be eligible for the end of life modifier would also be eligible for a weighting under the severity modifier. NICE recently reviewed the topics appraised using its new methods and found that of the seven pieces of final guidance published up until December 2022, all seven make positive recommendations. NICE also found that the severity modifier supported a positive recommendation where it was accepted, and plans to further review the implementation of its methods towards the end of 2023.
New innovative medicines do not pay the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access (VPAS) rebate rate for the first three years after marketing authorisation. The National Health Service is a unique proposition for global life sciences companies. With a single commercial deal, a company can have access to a market of over 55 million people. A recent report from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America found that between 2012 and 2021, the United Kingdom was consistently in the top three G20 countries for availability and speed of access to new medicines.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for (a) endoscopies and (b) other bowel cancer diagnostic tests.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
£2.3 billion was awarded at Spending Review 21 to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. Most of this will help increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, expanding and protecting elective planned diagnostic services, including a number delivering endoscopy services. The remainder will increase diagnostic capacity, including endoscopy services, and other productivity improvements including digital transformation.
Direct Spending Review 21 investment in Endoscopy capacity has resulted in a net additional 31 endoscopy rooms in 2022/23, of which five were in CDCs. To date, NHS England have also approved additional investment, expected to deliver a further 25 net endoscopy rooms, of which five are to be in CDCs.
Alongside investment in physical capacity, several schemes are already underway to grow the endoscopy workforce including international recruitment of Clinical Fellows to enable back-fill for gastroenterology trainees to complete training.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to reduce the FIT screening for bowel cancer threshold from 120 ug/g to 20ug/g.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department and NHS England are working together to look at reducing the FIT screening threshold for Bowel cancer, including calculating the workforce capacity that would be needed.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of NICE appraisals have been terminated in (a) 2018-2019, (b) 2019-2020, (c) 2020-2021 and (d) 2021-2022.
Answered by Will Quince
The following table shows the number of appraisals terminated by the National institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for the timeframes requested:
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
Appraisals published (including terminated appraisals) | 56 | 53 | 63 | 94 |
Terminated appraisals | 6 | 10 | 13 | 19 |
Appraisals were terminated due to the company not making an evidence submission to NICE. NICE requires companies to submit evidence on the technology or technologies being evaluated. In line with its established process and methods, NICE terminates an evaluation if no evidence submission is received.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's estimated timescale is for bringing into force the removal of the financial burden for In-Vitro Fertilisation for female same-sex couples in England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Funding decisions for health services in England, including In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. We expect the removal of the additional financial burden faced by female same-sex couples when accessing IVF treatment to take effect during 2023.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle inequalities in access to cancer treatment across (a) socio-economic, (b) regional and (c) ethnic groups.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Major Conditions Strategy will look at the treatment and prevention of cancer, covering the patient pathway. It will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes for cancer patients.
The strategy will support health and care services to diagnose individuals earlier and help them to manage their conditions better. The strategy will include a focus on multi-morbidity and improve the National Health Service’s co-ordination of the treatment and care of people with multiple major conditions.
We will look at the health of people at all stages of life, from prevention through to living well with one or more major conditions. We will also include a focus on geographical and other differences in health that contribute to variations in health outcomes.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include a strategy for increasing the rate of cancer diagnosis in the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Major Conditions Strategy will look at the treatment and prevention of cancer, covering the patient pathway. It will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes for cancer patients.
The strategy will support health and care services to diagnose individuals earlier and help them to manage their conditions better. The strategy will include a focus on multi-morbidity and improve the National Health Service’s co-ordination of the treatment and care of people with multiple major conditions.
We will look at the health of people at all stages of life, from prevention through to living well with one or more major conditions. We will also include a focus on geographical and other differences in health that contribute to variations in health outcomes.