Written question asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour) on Monday, 28 October 2019, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 November 2019. It was answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford (Conservative) on Monday, 4 November 2019 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Liothyronine: Merseyside

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government what further proof of eligibility for treatment with liothyronine is required for those patients, in Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) who are members of the Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee, for whom an endocrinologist has confirmed levothyroxine treatment has not been suitable and has recommended they are prescribed liothyronine, and where the CCG is requiring an Individual Funding Request process be undergone before treatment can be permitted.

Answer: In the absence of positive National Institute for Health and Care Excellence technology appraisal guidance, any funding decisions should be made by National Health Service commissioners (including NHS England and NHS Improvement in respect of specialised services), based on an assessment of the available evidence and on the basis of an individual patient’s clinical circumstances. The NHS Constitution states that patients have the right to expect local decisions on the funding of drugs and treatments “to be made rationally following a proper consideration of the evidence”. If an NHS commissioner decides not to fund a drug, then it should explain that decision.

Secondary information