NHS England has revealed that thousands of patients have benefited from the new Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) and as a result of discounts it has secured on eight treatments, savings of around £140 million should be generated over the course of the next five years.
medicines
Since its opening in 2016, NHS England reports that just shy of 15,700 patients have benefited from 52 drugs treating 81 different types of cancer, with about 5,000 of these being treated more rapidly than they would have managed on the previous system.
The new system involves close collaboration of NHS England with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and means that treatments can be accessed earlier as the NICE appraisal process starts earlier for newly referred drugs.
Additionally, NHS England is passing along the benefits of a more direct interaction with industry to patients. By working closely with NICE, it has been possible for more deals to be struck on the prices of treatments and thus allowed for a saving to be made for the NHS.
“Thousands of cancer patients are benefitting from earlier access to innovative treatments through the new Cancer Drugs Fund,” stated John Stewart, director of Specialised Commissioning at NHS England. “Alongside the new look process, tough negotiations and flexibility are leading to more deals with pharmaceutical companies achieving real value for money for the NHS, meaning the new Fund is not only benefiting patients, but industry, the NHS and the taxpayer too.”