NHS cancer patients to receive latest and best treatments available

By Candy Lashkari

Cancer patients on the National Health Service may soon be offered expensive life extending drugs which are currently denied to them. David Cameron has proposed on behalf of the Conservatives that the drugs that are licensed and prescribed by the health consultant of the patient should be made available to the cancer patient, irrespective of the NHS rationing.

This move will make it possible for thousands of breast, colon, kidney and lung cancer patients to extend their lives by six months to two years. The treatment is available in a number of other European countries, but was denied under the NHS to cancer patients in the UK. These drugs have been considered too costly to provide under the NHS rationing system.

According to David Cameron the 1% N.I. cut, which was announced last week by the Torries, would save the NHS £200 million a year. This would work out to over a billion pounds over the five year Parliamentary term and would be used to buy the cancer drugs deemed too expensive so far.

Mr David Cameron said, “Patients in this country should be among the first in the world to use effective cancer treatments, but are being denied access to drugs widely available in Europe. Other European countries are better than us at giving people longer, happier lives with cancer and we want to get more drugs to people more quickly. By not going ahead with the National Insurance increase, it will save the NHS money and we will put that money into a Cancer Drugs Fund.”

One proviso that the NHS has made in recent times has been to offer drugs to cancer patients if it will only prolong the life of the patient by at least nine months. This has led to arbitrary decisions being taken on if a patient is allowed to get the life extending drugs.

Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary said “We reject the notion that the public should have to take out private medical insurance to get access to the best cancer drugs. Our view is that paying tax should be the equivalent of having comprehensive health insurance. We should not have these arbitrary exclusions on cost grounds.”

This Tory policy is sure to be one of the most prominent manifesto pledges. It is also the most concrete offering on the National Health Service that they have offered. The Labour party is still more trusted to run the health service by the general public, but the Conservatives are gradually catching up.

However the funding of cancer drugs from the National Insurance contributions being scrapped will be just a temporary measure till a new system of payment for NHS drugs can be established. It is scheduled to come into existence in 2014. It will allow more access to the latest and best treatments available to cancer patients.