When he expects the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to issue further recommendations. [106241]

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence will be disseminating its guidance at various times throughout the year. In December, the Secretary of State set out the timetable for this year's work programme, and we expect the next guidance to be issued in the spring.

I am grateful to the Minister for that answer. Will she assure the House that, when NICE's recommendations on targeting the drug beta interferon for multiple sclerosis sufferers are considered, MS sufferers will not be placed in a catch-22 situation, in which everyone is denied access to the drug because it is not possible to identify its principal beneficiaries?

Obviously, I cannot pre-empt the guidance that NICE will provide on beta interferon. However, we have referred beta interferon to NICE because there is such wide variation across the country in prescribing the drug. We think that that type of postcode lottery is unfair.

Will my hon. Friend assure the House that any decisions that the national institute takes will be taken by clinicians, and that they will improve the clinical effectiveness of our health service?

Certainly the whole purpose of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence is to tackle the postcode lottery—in the biggest onslaught on the postcode lottery in the history of the NHS—and to ensure that decisions are taken on the basis of the latest clinical evidence about what works and what is best for patients.

Will NICE's evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of beta interferon take account of the cost of domiciliary care or of the required domestic adaptations in the absence of its supply?

Certainly NICE will be able to take account of all the data that are submitted, and that includes the costs of care and of social services. NICE will be able to take into account all those matters when it considers both the cost effectiveness and the clinical effectiveness of beta interferon.

May I tell my hon. Friend about the case of two of my constituents? They were advised by their consultant that beta interferon was the appropriate treatment; invited in for training in the use of beta interferon; but then, only at that point, were told that the budget would not allow them to be issued with the drug. Will she ensure that when NICE produces its guidelines, it will include some guidance to trusts on processes and the information that should be provided to patients well in advance, to avoid the type of disappointment that my constituents experienced?

I have been informed of the case that my hon. Friend mentions, and I have asked the regional office to provide me with a detailed report on the circumstances of the provision of beta interferon for those patients. I can also tell him that we shall be ensuring that NICE's guidance is available to be followed across the country, to tackle some of the problems that he mentions.