Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure adequate levels of supply of medications prescribed for epilepsy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are around 14,000 medicines licensed for supply in the United Kingdom, and while most are in good supply, there can sometimes be supply issues with a limited number of medicines. The medicine supply chain is highly regulated, complex, and global. Supply disruption is an issue which affects the UK, as well as the other countries around the world.
The Department has been working intensively to address issues with the supply of some epilepsy medications. Guidance has been issued to healthcare professionals on how to manage patients requiring affected medicines while supply is disrupted.
We will continue to work closely with industry, the National Health Service, and others to help ensure patients continue to have access to an alternative treatment until their usual product is back in stock. The Department has been engaging with the Epilepsy Society, and we will continue to keep them updated on any developments.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department plans to take in the next year to help ensure that children with severe epilepsy can access effective cannabis-based medications through the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The licensed cannabis-based medicine epidyolex is prescribed routinely for three forms of epilepsy, for patients aged two years old and above. However, clinical guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines.
We continue to call on the manufacturers of these products to conduct research, and we are working with regulatory, research, and National Health Service partners to establish clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of these products, to enable evidence based prescribing decisions.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that there is an adequate supply of oxcarbazepine for patients with epilepsy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department was informed of supply issues with oxcarbazepine 150 milligram and 300 milligram tablets by one supplier, which are out of stock until the end of March and the end of February 2024, respectively. Alternative oxcarbazepine tablets remain available. The Department has worked extensively with alternative suppliers and clinical colleagues and has since issued communications to the National Health Service which includes detailed management advice.
While we cannot always prevent supply issues from occurring, the Department has a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise and help mitigate risks to patients. There is a team within the Department that deals specifically with medicine supply problems, and it works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, the devolved administrations, and others operating in the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when shortages do arise.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she expects the randomised controlled trials to test medicinal cannabis for adults and children with epilepsy to begin; which NHS Trusts will be participating in these trials; how many patients will be involved in the trials; and whether patients will be approached to participate.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is developing a programme of two randomised controlled trials to test the safety and efficacy of medicinal cannabis products to treat epilepsy in adults and children. The trials will start as soon as possible, and results will be published once the trials have been completed and the findings peer reviewed. The trial details are in development.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress she has made with (a) regulatory, (b) research and (c) NHS partners on establishing clinical trials to test the (i) safety and (ii) efficacy of medical cannabis products.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is developing a programme of two randomised controlled trials to test the safety and efficacy of medicinal cannabis products to treat epilepsy in adults and children. The trials will start as soon as possible, and the results will be published once the trials have completed and the findings peer reviewed.
Furthermore, the Government continues to encourage manufacturers to invest in research and has highlighted that public funding is available for high quality applications. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the NIHR can provide applicants with scientific and research advice.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in prison have epilepsy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England collects internal management data on this however the statistics are not considered robust enough to be published.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of epilepsy (a) awareness and (b) first aid training for prison staff.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The HMPPS National Health and Safety Arrangements for First and Emergency Aid (publishing.service.gov.uk) require each prison to complete a first aid needs assessment, taking account of local risk and demand. All sites must have in place suitable numbers of adequately trained staff, equipment, and facilities to meet the need for first aid provision. First Aid training provided to prison staff – such as the course provided by St Johns Ambulance, which includes a wide range of topics, including how to deal with epileptic seizures – meets the standard required to comply with the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations.
Information for all HMPPS staff about epilepsy is provided on the Occupational Health employee information website https://hmpps.workplacewellbeing.com/guidance/epilepsy/. This explains how epilepsy affects safety at work, and how managers can ensure adequate first aid cover by reviewing risk assessments, implementing reasonable adjustments, and making referrals to Occupational Health.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people with epilepsy have died in prison (a) from all causes and (b) as a direct result of their epilepsy in the last ten years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners. All deaths in prison custody are subject to a coroner’s inquest.
The HMPPS National Health and Safety Arrangements for First and Emergency Aid (publishing.service.gov.uk) require each prison to complete a first aid needs assessment, taking account of local risk and demand. All sites must have in place suitable numbers of adequately trained staff, equipment, and facilities to meet the need for first aid provision. First Aid training provided to prison staff – such as the course provided by St Johns Ambulance, which includes a wide range of topics, including how to deal with epileptic seizures – meets the standard required to comply with the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 17 January 2024 on Women’s Health Strategy update, HCWS192, whether the National Institute for Health and Care Research challenge fund will fund research into anti-epilepsy medicines safe for use in pregnancy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In the Written Statement of 17 January 2024, the NIHR announced plans for a £50 million NIHR Challenge to tackle disparities within maternity. This initiative is a new five-year investment allocated from within NIHR’s research budget. This funding is additional to the £53 million that the NIHR spent between April 2022 and July 2023 into research programmes to support women’s sexual and reproductive health, with further funding for wider health and care research that benefits women.
The specific focus of this work is being developed and we expect that the NIHR will launch a call for applications in spring 2024. Further information will be available on the NIHR website in due course. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including anti-epilepsy medicines safe for use in pregnancy.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing children to be issued medical cannabis prescriptions on the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Licensed cannabis-based medicines, that have been proved effective in clinical trials and judged cost-effective by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), are routinely available on the National Health Service, including for people aged over two years old with certain types of epilepsy. However, clinical guidelines from NICE demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines.
We continue to call on manufacturers to conduct research to prove if their products are safe and effective and we are working with regulatory, research and NHS partners to establish clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of these products.