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Topical question asked in the House of Commons, by Eric Illsley (Labour). It was answered on Tuesday, 23 February 2010 on behalf of the Department of Health.


Topical Questions

Question
Last year, a constituent of mine paid £4,000 for a private operation that she required to save her sight. A few months later, the operation was made available on the NHS by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. My constituent has obviously lost out. Will the Minister look again at the NICE appraisal system, and improve its transparency and speed of decision making, to avoid this situation in future?
Answer

I agree that transparency is important in all aspects of NICE's work. Full details of its forward work programme are readily available on its website, wherever possible accompanied by expected publication dates for specific pieces of guidance. NICE consults publicly on each piece of draft guidance before making a recommendation.


Secondary information

Type
Oral question
Reference
506 c157 
Session
2009-10
Oral question type
1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Medical treatments
Link
View this Topical question on www.publications.parliament.uk