Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS document entitled Commissioning framework for biological medicines (including biosimilar medicines), what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that any decision to conduct a switch between biological medicines and biosimilar medicines is done with the approval of a physician and in consultation with patients.

NHS England has issued guidance around the commissioning of biological medicines and expects clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to give due consideration to this guidance. The framework sets out the importance of developing local policies to support switching patients to biosimilars in line with best practice and where appropriate. The commissioning framework set out policy based on best practice but ultimately CCGs and hospital trusts are accountable for their own local decision making.

All National Health Service organisations have a responsibility to encourage a shift in moving to shared decision making, and in ensuring that all patient consultations are done with a focus on shared decision making, and are happening at an individual healthcare professional/patient level.

NHS England has also made clear that the decision to prescribe a biological medicine for an individual patient, whether an originator or biosimilar, or to change between the two, rests with the responsible prescriber in consultation with the patient, in line with the principles of shared decision making.