PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Arthritis: Medical Treatments (19 July 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled Inequality of access to advanced therapies for patients with inflammatory arthritis: a postcode lottery? published in Rheumatology Advances in Practices in November 2021, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's finding that 59 per cent of clinical commissioning groups have a limit on the number of advanced therapies they would commission.

Asked by:
Feryal Clark (Labour)

No specific assessment has been made. Since July 2022, the majority of services for people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), which plan the provision of services subject to local prioritisation and funding.

In England, the National Health Service is legally required to make funding available for all treatments recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), usually within three months of the publication of its final guidance. This includes any recommended advanced therapies. In addition, we are working with NHS England to implement the Best MSK Health Improvement Programme. The Programme addresses MSK conditions in primary, secondary and community services to reduce any variance in patient access, outcomes and experience.

Answered by:
Gillian Keegan (Conservative)
29 July 2022