Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to improve patient access to clinically effective new blood cancer treatments for NHS patients.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NHS England funds NICE-recommended cancer medicines from the Cancer Drugs Fund from the point of positive draft NICE guidance, bringing forward patient access by approximately five months than would otherwise be the case.

For the years 2023/24 to 2024/25, NICE recommended 25 medicines to treat blood cancer that are now available for the treatment of NHS patients.