Post by jljenkyns on Nov 4, 2008 15:25:26 GMT 1
The Conservatives have announced plans to speed up and widen access to new medicines. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said on Monday that the Tories would retain the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) but reform the system so as to make the body more effective.
The plans including ending the system of ministerial referral for drugs, which critics say both delays the process of approval of NHS-rationed medicines and involves political decisions, and allowing NICE to begin its assessments at an earlier stage of clinical trials.
Lansley said the reforms would allow patients to access some drugs within three to six months, rather than the current average 18-month waiting time.
Other ideas include allowing NICE to take into account the wider social cost of denying a drug to patients when assessing its value or benefit, and shifting the decision-making power over the supply of new drugs from NICE to frontline doctors. "Patients in the NHS in Britain get slower access to new medicines than any other major European country," Lansley said.
"Too often the NHS treats NICE as an excuse for delay. We have to move to a system where NICE facilitates access to the best care at the earliest possible time.
"While the government has dithered, we are today putting forward the proposals which would mean NICE could fulfil that more positive role, enabling people to have access to life-saving drugs and treatments swiftly and efficiently.
"In 1999 when it established NICE, Labour said it would abolish the postcode lottery in healthcare, but they have not succeeded.
"What we need to do is arrive at a point where doctors are in a position to be able to make these decisions for their patients and are actually able to provide the care that is right for them."
The plans including ending the system of ministerial referral for drugs, which critics say both delays the process of approval of NHS-rationed medicines and involves political decisions, and allowing NICE to begin its assessments at an earlier stage of clinical trials.
Lansley said the reforms would allow patients to access some drugs within three to six months, rather than the current average 18-month waiting time.
Other ideas include allowing NICE to take into account the wider social cost of denying a drug to patients when assessing its value or benefit, and shifting the decision-making power over the supply of new drugs from NICE to frontline doctors. "Patients in the NHS in Britain get slower access to new medicines than any other major European country," Lansley said.
"Too often the NHS treats NICE as an excuse for delay. We have to move to a system where NICE facilitates access to the best care at the earliest possible time.
"While the government has dithered, we are today putting forward the proposals which would mean NICE could fulfil that more positive role, enabling people to have access to life-saving drugs and treatments swiftly and efficiently.
"In 1999 when it established NICE, Labour said it would abolish the postcode lottery in healthcare, but they have not succeeded.
"What we need to do is arrive at a point where doctors are in a position to be able to make these decisions for their patients and are actually able to provide the care that is right for them."