Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Hepatitis C Improvement Framework will be published and whether that framework will contain guidance to commissioners on increasing patient access to new Direct Acting Antiviral treatments that have been approved by NICE.

A date for publication of the hepatitis C Improvement Framework has not yet been set. Public Health England continues working with NHS England and Operational Delivery Networks to establish a process of monitoring hepatitis C treatment access and uptake.

New Direct Acting Antiviral treatments have been available to patients meeting the criteria of the NHS England policy for the treatment of cirrhosis since June 2015. These patients have access ahead of the implementation of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisals (TAs).

Access has also been made available to patients meeting the criteria set out in the NICE TAs for simeprevir (May 2015) and sofosbuvir (August 2015). Access to three new treatments will be available from 23 February 2016 for patients (dependent on treatment type and treatment history) without cirrhosis.