NHS Postcode Lottery is Restricting Access to Drugs like Avastin and Abiraterone on the Cancer Drugs Fund

The government Cancer Drugs Fund enables cancer sufferers without private medical cover to benefit from treatment not available on the NHS. However, with a postcode lottery dictating the availability of this service, and with the initiative due to end in 2014, Brits may soon need to look for alternative ways of accessing lifesaving cancer drugs like Avastin, Abiraterone and Yervoy.

The Cancer Drugs Fund was set up in 2010 to give patients without private medical cover the chance to be treated with drugs deemed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as too expensive for the NHS. Patients can apply through their doctors for the funds which are then administered by health authorities across England.

Avastin is one of these drugs available through the Cancer Drugs Fund, licensed for use on breast cancers, colon cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, kidney cancers, lung cancers, ovarian cancer and rectal cancer. Although Avastin is licensed and can be prescribed in the UK, it has not been approved for use on the NHS because it is not considered cost-effective. Consequently, the drug is only available through the Cancer Drugs Fund or through private medical insurance. Self-pay patients would be set back around £21,000 for a course of Avastin.

Abiraterone is another drug available through the Fund. Abiraterone is a hormone based therapy drug which blocks the generation of testosterone in the tumours of men with late-stage prostate cancer. Trials of abiraterone found that it extended a patient’s life by an average of 4 months. Although it was licenced for use in the UK, NICE has decided that the drug is too expensive for use in the NHS in England. Abiraterone is now only available through the Cancer Drugs Fund or private medical insurance. Self-pay patients pay around £3,000 a month for treatment with Abiraterone.

Skin cancer drug Yervoy has also been turned down by NICE for use on the NHS. Yervoy is the first medicine proven to extend the lives of patients with advanced melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. But the four necessary injections of Yervoy cost almost £80,000 per person in total. NICE has concluded that funding the drug would not be a cost effective use of NHS resources. Now, the only way people can be treated with Yervoy is through the Cancer Drugs Fund or through private medical insurance.

Whilst the Cancer Drugs Fund has helped thousands of patients get access to expensive cancer treatment, recent figures show that a postcode lottery is limiting the availability of drugs in certain parts of the country. Each health authority in England is awarded a budget to spend on cancer drugs from the Fund, ranging from around £9million to £30million depending on population size. But the Rarer Cancers Foundation has revealed that in some areas of the country less than one fifth of the money has been spent. In underspent regions, cancer patients are being turned away.

Richard Theo, of health insurance comparison website ActiveQuote.com said: “Rather than relying on the Cancer Drugs Fund for access to drugs like Avastin, Yervoy and Abiraterone you could compare health insurance policies online in order to find a policy that would fund these drugs if required. Private medical insurance complements the service provided by the National Health Service, and would guarantee you treatment with licensed drugs even if they are not approved by NICE.”

And with the Cancer Drugs Fund due to end in 2014, private medical insurance will give you peace of mind about you and your family’s healthcare for years to come.

http://www.activequote.com is the only true health insurance comparison website in the UK.

40 per cent of hospital medicines ‘involved an error’

A new study published today in the Journal of Advanced Nursing has shown that nearly 40% of observed drug administrations involved errors. Patients with swallowing difficulties were at three times greater risk of medication errors being made . Earlier research has shown that patients with swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) spend 40% longer in hospital than those without dysphagia.

A total of 2129 medicine administrations were observed in a range of different hospitals and 817 involved an error. Medication administration errors for patients with swallowing difficulties involved patients chewing modified release tablets, nurses crushing tablets not authorized to be crushed, mixing medicines together to make them easier to swallow, not flushing tubes between drug administrations and using the wrong syringe to administer medicines down feeding tubes.

Overall, the most common error involved medicines being given at the wrong time, i.e. one hour earlier or later than had been prescribed. Whilst in many cases it is unlikely this would cause any harm, it did include 18 of 49 doses of anti-Parkinson medication being given over an hour late, which could have led to patients with Parkinson’s not having their symptoms adequately controlled and being unable to move, get out of bed or walk down a corridor.

Says Professor David Wright, University of East Anglia who supervised the research: “Whilst the level of errors in patients without swallowing difficulties was no different to that seen by other researchers, it is very apparent that patients with swallowing difficulties seem to be at greater risk of medication administration errors and therefore systems need to be reviewed to improve the quality of their care. Patients should be assessed on their ability to swallow their medication when first admitted to hospital. The results of this study have helped us to pilot new approaches in one of the trusts where observations took place to improve communication between nurses, pharmacists and doctors.”

Daiga Heisters, Head of Professional Engagement and Education at Parkinson's UK, commented: “It's vitally important that people with Parkinson's get their medication on time, every time and we know this can be a particular problem they are admitted to hospital. If people with Parkinson's don't get their medication on time, their symptoms become uncontrolled and their hospital stay is extended. In some cases, this can cause a lasting negative effect on their Parkinson's symptoms.

Our ‘Get it on time’ campaign aims to raise awareness of this issue amongst healthcare professionals and we welcome any initiative which will help people with Parkinson's to get their medication on time.”

Summary of the Research Findings

• 2129 drug administrations observed
• 65 nurse-led medicine administration rounds were openly observed and recorded by the researchers on care-of-the-elderly and stroke wards.
• 34% of the 625 patients observed had swallowing difficulties
• 817 drug administrations involved medication errors
• 170 patients without swallowing difficulties and 133 patients with swallowing problems experienced at least one medication error
• 36 of the 50 patients with an enteral feeding tube experienced at least one error
• 36.7% of anti-Parkinson medication was given over an hour late

Summary of medication errors in patients with swallowing difficulties

• 54.3% Medication given at the wrong time
• 19.8% Wrong preparation
• 9.6% Wrong form
• 6.7% Drug not given
• 2.2% Wrong dose
• 0.7% Wrong drug
• 0.3% Extra dose

www.parkinsons.org.uk