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 support the use of medical technologies to prevent sight loss.

As outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan and the Life Sciences Sector Plan, we want patients to have fast and safe access to the most innovative technology, wherever they live in the country. Improving the adoption and procurement of medical technology will help the National Health Service secure the best outcomes for patients, including patients with sight threatening conditions, whilst also delivering greater value-for-money for the NHS.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research, including on eye care, through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for evaluating new medicines, medical devices, and other technologies to determine their clinical and cost-effectiveness before recommending them for NHS use.

Where a NICE technology appraisal recommends a medicine or treatment, the NHS is legally required to fund them. Where NICE guidance is not available on a particular medical technology, we would expect commissioners to take funding decisions on the basis of the available evidence of the clinical benefits.