NHS access to medical cannabis for children with drug-resistant epilepsy

Motion Text

That this House notes the law change of 2018 which allows the prescription of medical cannabis under the direction of specialist doctors; recognises that this law change was in large part achieved by the campaigning efforts of Hannah Deacon on behalf of her then 6 year old son Alfie Dingley from whom medical cannabis is the only medication shown to eliminate his drug resistant epileptic seizures; is concerned that due to a variety of systemic factors, access to medical cannabis under prescription on the NHS remains extremely limited and as a result, many families are required to fund treatment privately at significant and ongoing cost; acknowledges that planned Randomised Controlled Trials to gain further evidence of efficacy and safety are some years away and are not suitable for the cohort already on the medicine; highlights that Hannah Deacon continued to campaign for these other families until her untimely and tragic death aged just 45 years; and calls on the Government to fund an Observational Trial for the cohort as a means of enabling the children and young people to receive the life-changing medication at no cost.