Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of reference pricing for drugs on long-term system capacity and the ability of clinicians to tailor treatments to complex patient profiles within ophthalmology services.

No specific assessment has been made.

The intention of the reference pricing is to support long term capacity in ophthalmology by enabling trusts to reinvest realised savings directly into local services, including workforce, equipment, and service redesign. Clinical autonomy is maintained, and clinicians will continue to be able to tailor treatments to individual patient needs, including complex cases, where this is clinically indicated.