Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with Clinical Commissioning Groups in England on the availability of Sativex to patients with MS.

The Department has not had any direct discussions. However, the Department has discussed the issue with NHS England which has issued a reminder to clinical commissioning groups in England of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance and their responsibilities and will be monitoring uptake.

The latest guidelines from NICE recommend Sativex to treat moderate to severe spasticity in adults with multiple sclerosis, if other pharmacological treatments for spasticity are not effective. The decision on whether to prescribe must be taken by a specialist clinician on a case by case basis and funding of this medicine is subject to local National Health Service decisions.