Interim Cancer Drugs Fund announced
The Government has today announced an interim Cancer Drugs Fund, to be put in place from October 2010 until April 2011, when the Cancer Drugs Fund proper will be implemented. £50 million has been set aside for this financial year to give patients access to cancer treatments that are not already routinely available within the NHS. This funding, which has been found from a review of Department of Health central budgets, will be made available through clinically-led regional panels.
This will make treatments without a final NICE decision, those with a negative NICE appraisal and treatments prescribed in 'near-label' circumstances available for clinicians to prescribe when they and the patient believe that there could be a clinical benefit from the treatment.
The Government will be consulting on their plans for the final Cancer Drugs Fund later this year. They plan to introduce value based medicines pricing from 2014.