§ Andy KingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that patients are not taken off treatments which have not been approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence for non-medical reasons and transferred to those which have been so approved. [145387]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThis is a matter which needs to be resolved at a local level according to the individual circumstances. Clinicians have a prime responsibility to prescribe treatments appropriate for the individual patient. In doing so, they should take full account of National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance and the evidence on which it is based.