Andrew Percy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has conducted a study on the viability of a New Medicines Fund for England.
George Freeman
We have no plans to do so.
On 12 January 2015, NHS England announced that it plans to further increase the level of investment for drugs in the Cancer Drugs Fund to an expected £340 million in 2015-16.
The Government is implementing all of the commitments in the 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) on improving access to innovative medicines commensurate with the outcomes they offer patients. In addition, NHS England and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry are pressing ahead with plans to maximise the benefits of the PPRS by improving access to and optimising the use of medicines to improve patient outcomes.
More generally, we have launched an ‘Innovative Medicines and Medical Technology Review’ of the pathways for the development, assessment, and adoption of innovative medicines and medical technology. This review will consider how to speed up access for National Health Service patients to cost-effective new diagnostics, medicines and devices. The review will examine the pathway from ‘first in human’ trials, through licensing and health technology appraisal, to commissioning and clinical practice. It will set out both short and long-term options for action by Government and relevant bodies, including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and NHS England, and mark a major contribution to the policy debate.
