Access To Cannabis-Based Medicinal Products On The NHS

Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about access to cannabis-based medicinal products on the NHS. I support the prescription of medicinal cannabis and I share your disappointment that many patients continue to suffer in pain because they cannot access the treatment they need.

As you know, in November 2018, the law was changed to allow doctors on the specialist register of the General Medical Council to prescribe cannabis-based products for medicinal use.

I welcome that the Government accepted the therapeutic use of cannabis. However, more than 22 months later, many patients report that they are still unable to obtain a prescription on the NHS. A report by the Care Quality Commission found that just 6.5% of the total number of cannabis-based medicinal products prescribed to patients in 2019 came from NHS prescriptions.

As a result, some families are paying thousands of pounds a month to private healthcare providers for treatment. I am concerned that this is creating an unjust two-tier system where those who can pay get access to vital medication and those who cannot pay go without.

National clinical guidelines recommend two cannabis-based medicinal products for use on the NHS: Epidyolex has been recommended for seizures associated with Lennox Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome; and Savitex has been recommended for relief of spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis. The Government confirmed that funding has been fast-tracked by NHS England and NHS Improvement for patients who fulfil the criteria under these guidelines, which it hopes will improve access to licensed cannabis-based products for patients.

I support calls for the Government to speed up and improve the availability of medicinal cannabis on the NHS and guarantee that patients in our constituency and across the country can access funded medicinal products where appropriate.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this important issue.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Dowd MP