Consultation on proposed changes to Cancer Drug Fund
21 Oct. 2014
NHS England launches consultation on proposed changes to Cancer Drug Fund Standard Operating Procedures
Patients and individuals are encouraged to comment and respond to this important consultation.
The deadline is the midnight on Friday 31st October.
MDS patients have benefited enormously from the CDF to date, without which many patients would not have had access to drugs such as azacitidine and lenalidomide prior to the NICE approval.
The changes are indicative of a need to again monitor costs of new drugs – in order to sustain a system that will benefit all cancer patients.
MDS UK has attended a briefing event organised by CDF for patients groups on 20th October – and will submit comments to NHS England on behalf of MDS patients.
Further information about the consultation and proposed changes below:
The consultation is focused on a number of proposals to change the current Standard Operating Procedure, which sets out how the fund is managed.
There are three proposed changes:
• Implementation of a re-evaluation process to assess the drugs on the current national list, and remove those which represent the lowest levels of clinical benefit
• Inclusion into this re-evaluation system of a confidential element which assesses the average cost of a drug per patient in relation to the clinical benefit delivered
• Inclusion of an option which enables pharmaceutical companies to make adjustments to drug prices, in order to allow their drug/indication to remain on the CDF list
The proposals represent a significant change to the way the CDF is currently managed, and therefore NHS England is keen to test out the proposals with as many people as possible who have an interest in the fund.
Details of the consultation, and how you can submit responses, can be found on the CONSULTATION PAGE, where you will find two documents and an online consultation survey:
• A CONSULTATION GUIDE – this document introduces the Standard Operating Procedure; explains why we are consulting on it, and sets out the proposals for change and associated questions;
• THE PROPOSED STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR THE CDF – this document sets out of the proposed changes to the current procedures, and are clearly highlighted for ease of reference.
If you have any questions about the materials listed above please contact: england.cdfconsultation@nhs.net
