Thousands of cancer patients to be denied treatment
Common drugs for breast, bowel, prostate, pancreatic and blood cancer will no longer be funded by the NHS following sweeping cutbacks
2:45PM BST 04 Sep 2015
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More than 5,000 cancer patients will be denied life-extending drugs under plans which charities say are a “dreadful” step backwards for the NHS.
Health officials have just announced sweeping restrictions on treatment, which will mean patients with breast, bowel, skin and pancreatic cancer will no longer be able to receive drugs funded by the NHS.
In total, 17 cancer drugs for 25 different indications will no longer be paid for in future.
Charities said the direction the health service was heading in could set progress back by centuries.
The Cancer Drugs Fund was launched in 2011, following a manifesto pledge by David Cameron, who said patients should no longer be denied drugs on cost grounds.
Prime Minister David Cameron Photo: REUTERS
Since its launch four years ago it has benefitted more than 50,000 patients, who received treatment which NHS rationing bodies had refused to pay for.
But now the fund’s budget is massively overspent.
At the start of this year, health officials announced plans to stop funding 25 treatments received by 8,000 patients.
After appeal, six treatments were saved. Now a second round of cuts will see NHS funding stopped for 25 more which have been hailed as some of the most promising, for those with no other hope.
The decision means that in total, two thirds of all treatments which were paid for by the scheme will no longer be paid for by the NHS.
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