Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of variation between Integrated Care Boards in the availability of Xonvea; and whether he plans to issue further advice or guidance to Integrated Care Boards to help improve access.

The Department recognises the importance of access to medication to treat nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, and hyperemesis gravidarum. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on antenatal care includes guidance on the advantages and disadvantages of the range of pharmacological treatments for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy to support shared decision making.

Whilst no specific assessment has been made, the Department recognises that there is currently regional variation in the availability of certain medicines like Xonvea between integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs are responsible for developing local formularies setting out the use of medicines for their local populations, informed by national guidance on clinical effectiveness. This can lead to variation with different local areas taking different decisions to reflect the needs of their local population.

This is why we are progressing the Single National Formulary (SNF), as announced in our 10-Year Health Plan which set out a commitment to move towards a SNF for medicines within the next two years. Over time, an SNF is expected to replace local formulary processes and will be designed to help address inequity and variation in the use of approved medicines; helping to ensure every patient has equitable access to medicines, and that the same medicines are available to patients in an equitable way, in all parts of the country. Work is already underway to deliver the SNF through a phased approach. NHS England will work collaboratively with key stakeholders including NICE and industry throughout the implementation.