https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/press-releases/our-response-new-guidance-use-cannabis-based-products-medicinal-use-children-and-young-people/

Our response to new guidance on the use of cannabis-based products for medicinal use in children and young people with epilepsy

31 Oct 2018, 5:19 p.m.

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Great Ormond Street Hospital’s response to new guidance on the use of cannabis-based products for medicinal use in children and young people with epilepsy:

“We welcome the new guidance today, it is positive to have this framework in place. We will review the new policy documents and evaluate our position and how we use cannabis-derived treatments where there is evidence that it could help our patients.  There are questions to be addressed around the funding and provision of these products, and we will await further guidance from NICE and NHS England in these areas.

“The guidance published today highlights that the responsibility remains with the prescribing expert clinician, and that these products should only be prescribed when no other drug can meet the clinical need of the patient. We will continue to work closely with our patients and families and to provide the best possible treatment for those in our care.”

Please note that the above press release is historic and has been superseded by our latest note on the guidance issued on 21 January 2019 - see our latest press release on the GOSH website.

Contact Information

For further information please contact the GOSH-ICH Press Office on 020 7239 3039.

For genuine and urgent out-of-hours queries call switchboard on 020 7405 9200.

Notes to Editors

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust is the country’s leading centre for treating sick children, with the widest range of specialists under one roof.

With the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, we are the largest centre for paediatric research outside the US and play a key role in training children’s health specialists for the future.

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity needs to raise money to support the hospital to give children who need help the most the best chance for life. The charity funds patient and family support programmes, provides the latest medical equipment and supports the essential redevelopment of the hospital. It has also launched a five-year strategy to support research in some of the most serious and complex childhood diseases. Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity is the largest dedicated funder of paediatric research in the UK and our work is entirely funded through the generosity of supporter donations. For more information visit www.gosh.org