Let’s build on 60 years of the NHS and pharma working together
pharmafile | July 2, 2008 | Feature | | ABPI, NHS, Richard Barker, nhs 60 years
Ever since Aneurin Bevan launched Britain’s fledgling health service in 1948, the UK-based pharmaceutical industry and the NHS have stood side by side in serving patients with modern medicines, says Richard Barker.
Over this time we have seen waves of innovation – vaccines, medicines to control blood pressure and cholesterol, to eliminate ulcer operations, to revolutionise cancer treatment – that have enabled the NHS to offer millions of patients longer, healthier lives.
Side by side but separate, was how the relationship between the NHS and industry remained for decades. They shared a common goal: the two were – and indeed remain – committed to serving the needs of the British patient.
And the NHS relied on the pharmaceutical industry for the delivery of innovative new medicines, just as industry was reliant on the health service as its most valued customer.
But for several years the thought of the two actually working together could not be conceived.
Times have changed. Where once there was total division of labour, with the pharmaceutical industry researching, developing and manufacturing medicines which doctors prescribed; now the focus is shifting towards a world in which doctors, NHS managers and medicines innovators collaborate on providing better treatment for patients.
Of course, it is not just patients who stand to benefit. The health service and the UK-based pharmaceutical industry – still a jewel in the UK economic crown – have much to gain from partnership working.
Those who think that joint working is simply a matter of pharmaceutical companies opening their wallets and forking out should think again. This is not about ‘sponsorship’, it is about providing industry skills, experience and resources to improve the quality and value of NHS services for chronic and acute diseases and, of course, to improve the patient experience.
UK-based pharma companies have the best understanding of their products and how they work in clinical practice. As a result they can offer first-rate support to the NHS in terms of providing partnership and detailed and comprehensive information at a variety of levels.
There is huge potential. Take just one example: INFORCE, a collaborative effort in Nottingham was set up in May to reduce the burden on the health service caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – a condition that claims 140 lives every year in the city alone.
Other projects elsewhere focus on improving heart health, sexual health and reducing medication error.
Sixty years have passed since Nye Bevin unwittingly forged this marriage between industry and health service. There have been troubles – industry has been vocal in its criticism of postcode inequalities and the UK’s slow uptake of new medicines – but each increasingly understands that together they stand, divided they fall.
And what will the next 60 years bring? The relationship between NHS and industry looks set to strengthen further thanks to the Darzi report and proposed NHS constitution. The future looks bright for patients, industry and NHS alike, with plans to break down the barriers that prevent fair and equal access to new and innovative medicines.
Happy anniversary, NHS – we look forward to many more years of joint working!
Richard Barker is the Director General of the ABPI
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