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Dept of Health

Answer

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are in place for the period to 2008 to allow patients to be treated with non-National Institute for Clinical Excellence appraised treatments if it is their choice and their clinicians concur, in (a) hospital and (b) primary care. [187116] Mr. Hutton: The national health service is expected to take full account of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance. Clinicians have to make an independent clinical judgment, taking due account of NICE's advice and the strength of evidence which lies behind it. They may depart from the advice if, in their view, the circumstances of the individual patient justify doing so. But they will be held accountable, through clinical governance arrangements, for their clinical decisions. When considering the funding of any treatment currently being appraised by NICE, or where no appraisal has been commissioned, funding authorities are expected to use their existing local arrangements and consider the evidence available to them on the clinical effectiveness of the treatment. The Department has made it clear to health authorities and primary care trust, that funding for treatments should not be withheld simply because guidance from NICE is unavailable or not yet published and we are happy to reiterate that via the strategic health authorities.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

425 c799W;425 c799-800W; 187116

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Drugs NHS Medical treatments Standards National Institute for Clinical Excellence

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk