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PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(2 June 2026)

Question Asked

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the timeliness of NICE technology appraisal delivery.

Asked by:
Debbie Abrahams (Labour)

Answer

The Government recognises the importance of timely access for National Health Service patients to effective new medicines and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) aims wherever possible to issue technology appraisal recommendations on new medicines close to the time of licensing.

The Department and NICE regularly monitor the timeliness of NICE’s technology appraisals. In 2025/26 the median time between marketing authorisation and a NICE recommendation for all technology appraisals was 232 days, which is a reduction from 332 days in 2024/25.

We recognise that there is more to do to reduce the length of time between marketing authorisation and NICE guidance and the recently launched joint NICE and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency pathway is expected to speed up patient access to effective new medicines by three to six months.


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