How Comparative Effectiveness Works in Britain
A new report from the Rarer Cancers Forum suggests that 16,000 people in the United Kingdom have been denied cancer drugs by Great Britain’s government-controlled National Health Service (NHS). Key findings:
- Although progress has been made in gaining access to treatment, with 8,750 more patients being given vital treatment, 16,000 have still been denied access to treatments that they may need.
- The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) needs to improve drug assessment time periods — with the Institute taking 21 months to appraise new cancer drugs, rather than the 6 months promised by ministers.
Additional findings:
- 36 percent of patients cannot find their Primary Care Trusts (PCT’s) cancer procedures and policies on PCT Websites.
- 49 percent of patients were unclear about how quickly they would hear a decision on a request for treatment.
Get ready. This is what our future is going to look like.
In medicine lives are saved at the margin; but the cost is high. This type of rationing is inevitable if patients throw up their hands and beg government to run health care. The calculus of the politics of medicine suggest money spent on easy access to (unnecessary) primary care buys more votes than the equivalent money spent extending the lives of cancer patient.
NICE approves new cancer drugs in 21 months rather than the 6 promised by the politicians?
Gee, what a surprise.