Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of introduction of QALYS into the appraisal of highly specialised technologies (HST); and if he will take steps to ensure that future HST drugs for ultra-rare diseases are not denied reimbursement.

The changes to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Highly Specialised Technologies methods are intended to introduce a fairer, more transparent framework for the evaluation of technologies for very rare diseases that will enable truly transformative new drugs for patients to be made available where companies are willing to set prices that fairly reflect the added benefit they bring.