Innovation scorecard gets ABPI thumbs-up
pharmafile | August 29, 2012 | News story | Sales and Marketing | NHS, NICE, market access
An NHS ‘innovation scorecard’, showing which hospitals in England are using NICE-approved drugs – and which aren’t – has been welcomed by the pharma industry.
The Department of Health says it is still working on the exact content of the scorecard, which is due to be launched in the autumn, but it will effectively ‘name and shame’ NHS organisations which do not to provide access to approved treatments.
ABPI chief executive Stephen Whitehead called it a valuable tool to “help highlight discrepancies which can then be addressed”.
The NHS Constitution enshrines patients’ rights to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE if their doctor thinks they will help – but delays are routine.
The so-called postcode lotteries which see patients in one area of the country denied drugs which are routinely given to others affect sufferers and, of course, pharma firms keen to see their products used.
The government says its new scheme “will help end the unfair practice where some parts of the NHS delay offering new treatment while other areas make them available straight away”.
“There is still a great deal of variation across the country on which treatments patients are able to access,” continued Whitehead. “UK patients still don’t receive the latest treatments as quickly as their European counterparts.”
“This is not only bad for the health of the nation, but also means we lose the opportunity to drive efficiency savings through the use of medicines, which can often reduce the need for expensive hospital care,” he added.
Under the new rules, the NHS will have to comply with NICE guidance on new treatments or explain to patients why they are not doing so.
Tapping into an increasing government emphasis on transparency of health information, NICE-approved drugs will be automatically added to publicly-available lists of what is available.
The government says NHS organisations get funding for each new NICE appraisal, so finance “should not be a barrier to the uptake of innovative new treatments”.
A new group is also to be set up with the aim of helping local NHS organisations implement NICE guidelines.
“Patients have a right to drugs and treatments that have been approved by NICE,” said health minister Paul Burstow. “We are determined to eradicate variation and drive up standards for everyone.”
Adam Hill
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