Medicine system shake-up will improve patient access to treatments, Robison
More patients with rare or terminal illnesses will get the drugs they need on the NHS as a result of changes to the way new medicines are approved, Health Secretary Shona Robison has said.
She argued reforms being made would “help more patients to get better access to treatments that can give them longer, better-quality lives”.
The shake-up will allow for consideration to be given on whether or not treatments are available in other parts of the UK.
It comes after a decision this week by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) not to approve the drug Perjeta for use by the NHS to treat breast cancer patients in Scotland despite it being available in the rest of the UK.
In addition, the SMC will be able to consider allowing a drug to be made available on an interim basis so its effectiveness can be assessed.
A new system will be brought in for patients trying to get drugs not approved by the SMC to replac e the existing individual patient treatment request, which will include a national appeals system instead of cases being considered by different health boards.
The reforms will also see a separate system set up to make decisions on treatments on so-called “ultra-orphan” conditions – diseases which affect about one in 50,000 people.
The changes were announced after the Scottish Government published a report on reforms introduced in 2014 with the aim of increasing access to medicines.
The review, led by Dr Brian Montgomery, a former GP who has also served as medical director of NHS Fife, concluded these had “had the hoped-for effect in increasing access to end-of-life and orphan medicines, with SMC accepting a greater proportion of these medicines for use”.
Data from the SMC showed 75% of all submissions for drugs to help patients approaching the end of their life, or those with rare and very rare conditions, have been approved under the current system.
Ms Robison said: “Access to new medicines for rare or end-of-life conditions has substantially increased in recent years but we wanted to go further. Dr Montgomery’s recommendations will help us realise this.
“The reforms I am announcing today will help more patients to get better access to treatments that can give them longer, better-quality lives.”
The Health Secretary made the comments as she visited the Maggie’s Centre in Dundee, which deals with cancer sufferers and their families.
She added:”The Scottish Government, the SMC and the NHS have worked hard to reform access to new medicines.
“However, we now need pharmaceutical companies to do their bit by bringing forward much fairer prices for new medicines so that access is as wide as possible for the people of Scotland.”
Dr Montgomery said: “The key finding from the review was that access to end-of-life, orphan and ultra-orphan medicines has increased.
“Stakeholders also expressed greater satisfaction with the new approach adopted by the Scottish Medicines Consortium.”
Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK’s senior public affairs manager in Scotland, said: ” SMC does a difficult but necessary job to assess whether new cancer drugs should be made available on the NHS.
“Following the SMC reforms, we’ve been pleased to see a significant increase in the availability of cancer drugs in Scotland and we support the review’s recommendations to make further progress.”
Mary Allison, Scottish director of Breast Cancer Now, said the changes provide ” fresh hope for patients and their families for a system that will finally put them first”.
She added: ” At Breast Cancer Now we have campaigned for a system based on smart negotiation with drug companies and a fairer way of accessing drugs not widely available on the NHS. We are a big step closer to that today.”
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2016, All Rights Reserved.
