§ Earl Howeasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will ensure that National Health Service patients suffering from "wet" age-related macular degeneration (AMD) have ready access to licensed treatments, including photodynamic therapy with Visudyne, pending the final appraisal determination on such treatments by NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence). [HL3969]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe Department of Health issued a circular in August 1999 asking National Health Service bodies to continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies where guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence is not available at the time the technology first became available. These arrangements should involve an assessment of all the available evidence.
NICE has published for consultation the initial thoughts of the independent appraisal committee. The consultation concludes on 30 April 2002 and we a re expecting guidance to be issued to the NHS in July 2002, provided there are no appeals.