To ask the Minister of Health when people who live with Spinal Muscular Atrophy will have confirmation that the final administrative sign-off for an Early Access Medicines Scheme application for the medication Risdiplam has been completed.

The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust has an approved Early Access Medicines Scheme (EAMS) in place for risdiplam, subject to inclusion criteria and governance arrangements, which have now been agreed and communicated to patients. The Trust has assured me that clinically suitable patients will begin to receive treatment within the next number of weeks, with individual treatment pathways agreed by 9 March 2021 and a communication/engagement plan established thereafter, to ensure a smooth transition onto the risdiplam EAMS scheme as soon as possible.