Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to encourage routine use of NHS medicines throughout the NHS.

The Government is committed to ensuring that patients have access to new and effective treatments on terms that represent value to the National Health Service and the taxpayer.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing advice to the NHS on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of health technologies. NHS commissioners are legally required to fund treatments recommended by NICE technology appraisal guidance, ensuring consistent access to clinically and cost effective drugs across England.

The Accelerated Access Review, chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government later this spring on reforms to accelerate access for NHS patients to innovative medicines, medical technologies, diagnostics and digital products.