Lord Mancroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mancroft on 2016-03-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government for what reason NHS England intends to treat only a specified number of patients in 2016–17, as defined by recently published run rates for operational delivery networks services.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) specifically requires Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) to prioritise hepatitis C patients on the basis of highest unmet clinical need, as part of a progressive rollout of treatments over the next five years.
NHS England is funding providers to double the number of patients treated and this number will ensure the National Health Service fully meets in 2016/17 the patient numbers NICE set out for progressive rollout of the treatments at the time it published its guidance.
NHS England has invested in a Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme to incentivise ODNs to meet their agreed rate of roll-out. If their treatment rates deviate from this agreed rate of treatment, they are no longer eligible for these incentives.
In meeting the obligations of its Mandate, NHS England has set out a planning approach for hepatitis C that delivers access to NICE recommended treatment without disinvestment in other health services.
