Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had on increasing access to Palforzia treatment.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) assesses the clinical and cost effectiveness of new medicines on behalf of the National Health Service in England. Palforzia is an oral immunotherapy treatment for peanut allergy. In February 2022, NICE recommended Palforzia for NHS use as a possible treatment for peanut allergy in children and young people aged between four and 17 years old.

Once a medicine has been recommended for use in the NHS by NICE, the relevant NHS commissioners have 90 days within which to implement the NICE recommendation, after which they have a legal responsibility to make the treatment available to NHS patients. Additionally, any qualified prescriber can prescribe any medicine recommended by NICE, such as Palforzia. It is each integrated care board’s responsibility to commission services that will allow this medicine to be offered to their patients safely and effectively.