Baroness Masham of Ilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the impact of the price of five per cent coal tar ointment on the NHS Drug Tariff for England and Wales on Clinical Commissioning Groups’ decision to pay for that treatment.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We have made no such assessment.

In primary care, the prescribing decision rests with the patient’s general practitioner. The cost of any medicine has to be balanced against the importance of meeting the individual treatment needs of patients and potential adverse consequences for patients and additional costs to the National Health Service if supply is interrupted, for example the re-emergence of symptoms or relapse of the condition on stopping treatment.

Clinical commissioning groups can issue prescribing advice taking into account the cost of medicine.