Written question asked by Janet Dean (Labour) on Wednesday, 2 May 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 8 May 2007. It was answered by Caroline Flint (Labour) on Monday, 4 June 2007 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Arthritis: Drugs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the cost effectiveness models used by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence take into account potential savings in work-related benefits of treatments which enable people with rheumatoid arthritis to remain in or return to work.

Answer: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) published ““Guide to the Methods of Technology Appraisal””, which states that, among other things, an appraisal committee may consider:"““significant resource costs imposed outside the NHS…[including] direct costs on patients or carers (for example, travel costs) or costs to other public sector organisations, but will not normally include productivity costs””."NICE does not model the impact of its assessments on direct benefit payments, but the methodology NICE uses for assessing health-related quality of life incorporates the benefits to individuals of being able to work.

Secondary information