Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of (a) the effect of the National Tariff on the choice of antibiotic therapy available in hospitals and (b) the implications of the cost of such therapy for that availability.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 Act transferred responsibility for developing payment systems for health care services from the Department to NHS England and NHS Improvement (formerly Monitor). The costs of drugs that are used in the course of a patient’s stay in hospital are reimbursed via the Healthcare Resource Group tariff that the provider receives for that spell.

We are advised by NHS England that they are not aware of issues with the national tariff having an impact on the choice of antibiotic therapy available in hospitals.

The decision on whether to prescribe an antibiotic is entirely a matter for the clinician, based on his or her clinical judgement.