§ Mr. BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps are being taken to provide extra funding for new treatments approved by NICE mid-way though the financial year and to ensure that the funding of other treatments and services awaiting approval is not adversely affected; [25874]
(2) what steps are being taken by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to ensure that patients whose treatment has not been (a) examined and (b) approved by NICE will not assume a lower priority than patients on approved treatments; [25876]
(3) what steps are being taken by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to ensure that the provision of unapproved services is not affected by funding the cost of approved treatments. [25875]
§ Mr. HuttonStanding guidance in Health Service Circular 1999/176 advise national health service bodies to use their existing arrangements to determine local policies for treatments not referred to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence or pending guidance from NICE, using publicly available evidence to inform their decisions.
The statutory obligation on health authorities and primary care trusts to provide appropriate funding for treatments recommended by NICE was introduced as part of our strategy to ensure consistency of access to treatments for patients.
Funding is provided in baseline allocations to meet these commitments. NHS bodies are expected to take into account in-year pressures in developing their expenditure plans.