Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the difference in the up-take of novel oral anticoagulants and the uptake projected by NICE.

Decisions on the prescribing of medicines are a matter for clinicians with their patients.

National Health Service commissioners are legally required by regulations to fund those anticoagulant treatments recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in its technology appraisal guidance.

The NICE Implementation Collaborative has been established to support faster and more consistent access to NICE recommended medicines, treatments and technologies. The NICE Implementation Collaborative published a consensus statement on supporting the use of novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in non-valvular atrial fibrillation on 18 June 2014. The statement includes an analysis of the barriers to the use of NOACs. This is available at:

www.nice.org.uk/resource/CG180/pdf/c/cg180-atrial-fibrillation-nic-consensus-statement-on-the-use-of-noacs?id=gvyb3hjdqrcjtn6ytpwx3ydb64

NICE published its updated clinical guideline of the management of atrial fibrillation on 26 June 2014 which recommends that novel oral anticoagulants should be offered where appropriate. The latest data from the Innovation Scorecard show that uptake of the new anticoagulants across England is increasing.