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 (a) increase the adequacy of and (b) reduce the waiting time for the appraisal process for blood cancer patients to receive treatment.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is committed to publishing guidance within 90 days of a new cancer drug receiving its licence. If NICE’s draft recommendation, which can be published before a licence is granted, is positive, NHS England will make funding available immediately from when the license becomes effective and before the final guidance is published. The forecasted mean time from a new cancer drug receiving its licence to published final guidance in 2020/21 is now 1.5 months, a reduction of 13.5 months from 2012/13.