Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children with severe epilepsy can access second-generation cannabis-based medicines through the NHS.

The law allows United Kingdom specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs). Cannabis-based medicines licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are routinely available on the National Health Service, for example Epidyolex, for the treatment of two rare forms of epilepsy and tuberous sclerosis. However, some patients and families are seeking to access unlicensed forms of CBPMs, which have not been assessed by the MHRA. Clinical guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed CBPMs.

We continue to call on manufacturers to conduct research to prove their products are safe, and clinically and cost effective. NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research have agreed funding for two randomised control trials relating to the use of CBPMs for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsies. These will be world-first trials and will be crucial in furthering the evidence base and informing future NHS funding decisions.