Help make cancer treatments available to patients who need it

eryn_kathleen

There are many new cancer treatments available at the moment. The most effective type, monocloonal antibodies, are comparatively expensive and NICE has decided that many of them are too expensive to fund on the NHS - despite the fact that cancer care as a whole makes up only 5% of the total NHS budget.

These drugs have been studies extensively and have been proven to add months or years to the lives of people with advanced cancers. They are widely available through government health programmes in most European countries as well as in Canada and Australia.

Unfortunately, the current system means that desperate patients are forced to apply to their Primary Care Trusts for funding to cover these treatments. It's a lengthy and stressful process, and comes at a time when the patients are extremely ill.

No 10 Petition - make cancer treatments more accessible
This petition (which I didn't write) is intended to stop this practice of sending desperate patients begging for their treatments.

For more information:

The Cost of Cancer Care (Cancer Research UK)

NHS Cancer Drugs Dilemma - BBC video

Dying man's cancer drug plea - BBC video

Grandmother dies after paying privately for life-extending drug

eryn_kathleen

I also wanted to share my own experience in order to help people understand how this affect real lives.

My husband was diagnosed with bowel cancer two years ago at the age of 30. He has had three major surgeries; so far, they have removed his large intestine, spleen, gallbladder, and parts of his kidneys, stomach, pancreas, and liver. He's had three different chemotherapy drugs and he's been resistant to each one.

We've been very happy with the quality of the doctors and surgeons in the NHS. His oncologists are doing everything they can to keep him healthy for as long as possible. I can't say that we haven't had problems, but those problems have mostly been administrative and I haven't worried about his quality of care overall.

But now we're in a situation where all of his other options are gone, and it's so frustrating to know that there are drugs out there that can help him but that we can't access them. The only way to get these drugs is through clinical trials. My husband has already been on one trial but was randomly assigned to the control group, meaning that he received the standard treatment.

We have private medical insurance, but we can't use it because we would lose all of our entitlement to NHS treatment for all of his cancer care. Unlike others in the same situation, we don't own a house that we can sell.

I understand as well an anybody how desperate the NHS is for money. But denying care to cancer patients is NOT the right way to save funds!

Toothsmith

eryn_kathleen wrote: »

We have private medical insurance, but we can't use it because we would lose all of our entitlement to NHS treatment for all of his cancer care.

THIS is the thing that needs changing.

In a cash limited, taxation funded system, decisions will always have to be made as to where to draw the line on helping people.

We would all like unlimited funds available for the thing our loved ones are suffering from - but that is never going to happen.

It is right that we should take some responsibility for conditions that might need expensive care that the NHS may not wish to fund.

But this refusal to allow top-up care for those who have had the foresight to make provision for it is nothing short of criminal!

Political dogma above common sense.

melancholly

you know, all the money in the world couldn't make me work for NICE (assuming i was even qualified).... you have to decide whether a drug is good enough to justify cost - it's an equation of life over money.... and i understand the pot is finite and that some new drugs are desperately expensive and that they pay for all conditions and cancer isn't the only one.... but it's so sad that people who are very sick can't get the drugs..... the real life stories hit home - i couldn't make the decision to deny treatment (but i would probably bankrupt the nhs!). i'm so sorry to hear the story above - it's heartbreaking

violetta

This is the unfair bit to me (from the link to the story about the grandmother who has died after paying privately for the drugs):

"Co-payment was blocked last year by Health Secretary Alan Johnson because he claimed it would create a two-tier Health Service ...

... However, her consultant recommended-Cetuximab, which could extend her life. But it is available on the NHS only in Scotland, not in England and Wales."

So our Prime Minister and Chancellor (for starters) don't need to worry about this as their constituents are benefiting from the existing two-tier Health Service already.

eryn_kathleen

Thank you for all your comments!

I do agree that the NHS pot is finite, but these drugs would actually make up a tiny proportion of total costs. The problem is that the costs of these drugs is widely publicized (a full course can cost up to £20,000 to £30,000; although you may see articles citing higher figures the costs have gone down in recent years) but how many treatments on the NHS cost a similar amount without us knowing?

The example that I usually use is IVF treatments, not because I believe that these should be denied to couples (I have lots of friends who are trying to get pregnant and I know how frustrating that can be) but because the total costs are broadly comparable. One IVF cycle can cost £4,000 to £8,000. If my husband and I went to the NHS to get fertility treatments, the NHS could easily spend the same amount of money trying to get us pregnant as they would trying to save or extend my husband's life.

No 10 Petition - make cancer treatments more accessible
Petition again - please sign!