Prescription Drugs

Department of Health written question – answered at on 8 November 2016.

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Photo of Crispin Blunt Crispin Blunt Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee, Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to NICE's and NHS England's proposals for changes to the arrangements for evaluating and funding drugs and other health technologies appraised through NICE's technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies programme, published in October 2016, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of introducing a fast track NICE technology appraisal process for technologies with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of up to (a) £10,000 per quality adjusted life year (QALY) and (b) £30,000 per QALY.

Photo of Nicola Blackwood Nicola Blackwood The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health

The proposed fast-track technology appraisal process is expected to accelerate patient access to eligible treatments by around five months compared with the standard technology appraisal process. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence estimates that final guidance on products assessed through the proposed fast track process will be available 10-11 weeks sooner than for standard technology appraisal guidance. In addition, NHS England intends to fund treatments recommended through the fast track appraisal process within 30 days of final guidance, instead of the standard 90 days.

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