A package of measures designed to speed up access to new drugs and treatments for NHS patients, was announced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and Health Minister Lord Darzi.
The proposed changes will ensure that more NHS patients receive the life-saving, clinically and cost-effective drugs and treatments they need faster. It will also ensure that where NICE guidance has not yet been issued for a new drug or treatment the local NHS makes more robust and transparent decisions about what treatments it will fund. The measures announced include:
• A consultation on a new and faster system for referring drugs to NICE for appraisal – proposals will enable NICE to issue more timely guidance, in turn giving patients faster access to drugs and treatments. • An additional new appraisal committee – to ensure that NICE has the capacity it needs to appraise new drugs and treatments as promptly as possible.
• Increased investment in “horizon scanning” to ensure that new drugs are identified early on for appraisal.
A guidance document – detailing good practice on how decisions on new drugs should be made by Primary Care Trusts, has also been published.
