Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:36 pm on 12 February 2020.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:36, 12 February 2020

Well, I'm broadly aware of Kuvan—it's an issue that I've seen in some of the correspondence that I've had—but I'm not so aware that I could give a pledge to determine an outcome. If, however, the manufacturers want to submit for appraisal through our own appraisal process—the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group—they are free to do so. I think the challenge about Jeremy Hunt calling on Matt Hancock to do something shows you something about the danger of having former Ministers on backbenches. But it wasn't magic that got Orkambi over the line, it was a hard, commercial conversation, because the manufacturers of that drug weren't prepared to move until a very long, damaging and unpleasant campaign—which I think damaged a number of families in the process—to actually change the offer they were prepared to make to the national health service.

And this isn't just an issue for one particular form of medication. It's pretty common, not just for new treatments for, if you like, more common conditions, but certainly on rarer conditions as well. And, in fact, in the new treatment fund, which we're celebrating three years of making a real difference, many of the treatments that are brought online are for rare conditions—rare conditions that are now supported because there's a NICE appraisal. And, often, it's that initial cost to health boards, where there's a challenge that the new treatment fund helps with to get it available more broadly within the service. And we'll face this challenge in the future with advanced therapies too. So, I'm more than happy if the Member wants to write to me, and I'll be honest about where we are in the appraisal process and the things that we can do and are prepared to do here in Wales. And I'm more than happy to maintain that level of honesty with her, both within and outside the Chamber.