HC Deb 23 March 2000 vol 346 c634W
Mr. Oaten

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what target times his Department set for appeal of new(a) products and (b) pharmaceuticals to be available on NHS prescription. [R] [115959]

Ms Stuart

Drugs, including pharmaceuticals, may be prescribed on the National Health Service by general practitioners unless and until they are listed in Schedule 10 to the National Health Service (General Medical Services) Regulations 1992 (the "blacklist"). Appliances must be listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff in order to be prescribed on the NHS by GPs. Representations against proposals to list drugs in Schedule 10, or against the rejection of an application for listing of an appliance in Part IX, may be made but no timescale for the consideration of such representations has been set and will vary depending on the complexity and difficulty of the issues in question.