Meeting of the Parliament 04 December 2018
I suspect that, if boards are not paying attention to me, many members will ensure that I am aware of that. If people cannot access the treatment that we all think and their endocrinologist says that they should get, I ask members to please write to me. We will chase that up, because some of the stories and experiences that we have heard about are unacceptable.
As Rachael Hamilton and Johann Lamont said, the pricing of medicines is reserved to the UK Government. Scottish Government officials have worked with the Department of Health and Social Care in preparation for introduction of the UK-wide Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Act, which received royal assent in April 2017. The act sets out a range of measures to control the cost of drugs, including a power to limit the price of unbranded medicines—generics—when competition in the market fails and companies charge the NHS unreasonably high prices. Jackie Baillie made a good point about one example of that.
We will continue to liaise with our counterparts at the Department of Health and Social Care on those issues when Scotland’s interests are affected. I urge anyone who is unhappy with their prescribed treatment to talk to the healthcare practitioner who is responsible for their care.
In my opening speech, I did not manage to cover research, which has been raised. The Scottish Government’s chief scientist office is responsible for funding high-quality research projects to build capacity in the NHS and ensure that research in the NHS is carried out to a high standard. The chief scientist would welcome applications for research projects that are aimed at the management of hypothyroidism, which would be subject to the same independent rigorous review as other applications are. We would look to academic institutions to lead on well-designed research to address the evidence gaps, particularly on whether co-prescribing of T3 and T4 might be helpful. I understand that the endocrinology community in Scotland would be happy to consider and assist with such proposals.
It is clear that we can still work to improve some areas, but I hope that this short debate and the Government’s response to the petition have shown people that the Government sees the subject as important. We very much appreciate the work that the committee, the petitioner—Lorraine Cleaver—and those who are in the public gallery have done to get us to this point. We will continue to work together across the Government and health and social care services to make the difference that we all want for people who are impacted by thyroid conditions.