Drugs and Medical Treatments: Access
(asked on 18th December 2025) - View Source
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 regional variation in access to NICE-approved medicines across Integrated Care Systems.
No assessment has been made by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on adoption of innovative medicines in local formularies states that once a NICE technology appraisal recommends a medicine, it must be included in a local formulary within 90 days, providing it is clinically appropriate and relevant to the services provided by the organisation, or 30 days for Early Access to Medicines Scheme medicines. This NICE guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/mpg1/chapter/Recommendations#local-formulary-scope
Local formularies exist at various levels of the health service, but most frequently appear at integrated care board (ICB) level. It is the responsibility of local medicines optimisation teams and formulary committees to ensure they are meeting these targets.
At a national level, the Innovation Scorecard and Estimates Report is a publication which reports on the use of medicines and medicine groupings in the National Health Service in England, which have been positively appraised by NICE. It can be used by local NHS organisations to monitor progress in implementing NICE Technology Appraisal recommendations. Further information on the Innovation Scorecard and Estimates Report is available at the following link:
In line with commitments made in 2024 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access, and Growth, NHS England, NICE, and the NHS Business Services Authority are further developing the Innovation Scorecard and Estimates Report to better track variation in the uptake of NICE recommended medicines between ICBs.
The 10-Year Health Plan and Life Sciences Sector Plan set out a commitment to move to a Single National Formulary for medicines within the next two years. The overall aim of the Single National Formulary will be to drive rapid and equitable adoption of clinically- and cost-effective innovations.