Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to fully implement the pilot scheme for de-linking the payments made to companies from the volumes of antibiotics sold.

The United Kingdom national action plan for antimicrobial resistance (AMR), published on 24 January 2019, includes the commitment to lead the way in testing solutions that address the failure of companies to invest in the development of new antimicrobials. New models that pay companies for antibiotics based primarily on a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) led health technology assessment of their value to the National Health Service, as opposed to the volumes used, are in development.

The project is co-sponsored by NICE and NHS England, with the Department taking an oversight role. Governance arrangements are being finalised and the central project team is in place.

This is complex and world-leading work that will involve the development of an evaluation framework and commercial model, as well as undertaking a value assessment for the products included in the test.

It is anticipated to take between 18 months to two years before payments are implemented.