HearFromYourMP

Messages for this constituency

Why we cannot allow this post code lottery to continue

Posted by Pauline Latham, MP for Mid Derbyshire, at 10:19, Fri 5 August 2011:

As many of you will know, the Cancer Drugs Fund was part of the Conservative Party Manifesto prior to the last election, and was carried forward to become a part of the Coalition Agreement for Government last year, in order to help thousands of Cancer patients gain access to the drugs that their clinicians believe will help them.

I know that it was warmly welcomed by Cancer patients and their families up and down the country. Indeed, the Cancer Drugs Fund has to date delivered relief to 2,500 patients, a wonderful achievement.

However, since becoming an MP, I have sadly become aware of some major inconsistencies in the workings of the Cancer Drugs Fund.

I have been contacted by two Cancer patients recently, both of whom have told me that the drugs that they need to keep them alive are being denied to them by the NHS locally. Naturally, I was surprised and saddened to hear about this.

What shocked me even more however, was that both of my constituents would have had access to the drugs which they need to stay alive, because they are widely available in other parts of the country for the type of treatment that they require. For example, one constituent requires a drug called Avastin, which NHS East Midlands will not fund for second line treatments. However, should she or anyone else within this NHS area move just twelve miles away to Staffordshire, they would fall under the West Midlands NHS region, and would be entitled to the use of this drug on both first and second line treatments. In the East-Midlands NHS region, they do not believe that this drug is effective in keeping people alive as a second line treatment for Bowel Cancer.

However, she is living proof that this drug does work, because she has funded over £50,000 from her resources including her retirement money, heirlooms, a car and other possessions. This has kept her alive for an extra two years. Therefore, their logic is flawed.

Another constituent needs the drug Rituximab to prolong her life, her prognosis is currently less than three years to live, and the drug takes six months to work. If she lived in London or elsewhere in the country, she would have this drug without argument. It isn’t only one or two consultants that have recommended this drug, but three. And yet still, the East Midlands refused to fund it.

This is a real-life and potentially deadly example of a postcode lottery for Cancer treatment, that we must not allow to continue - it is simply just not fair.

I recently raised this scandalous situation in the Chamber of the House of Commons, where I asked the Minister if he could help people in such a situation, because this inequality of treatment due to something as random as a postcode is frankly, just wrong.

I was pleased with the Minister’s response, who like me, knows this to be an extremely important issue. Furthermore, in his response he said that he will look into this matter carefully in order to seek an explanation for the differences.

I concur with the Minister of State for the Department of Health who agreed with me that assurances must be sought so “that these processes are genuinely transparent, so that justice is seen to be done and people can gain access to the fund”

I strongly believe in local decision making, but I also believe in a free and fair NHS. The current system, whereby you could miss out on life saving drugs upon the basis on your address, is not the system that anyone wants to see, nor is it one that politicians want to allow.

When it comes to determining access to life-giving drugs, it is vital that we provide a level playing field when it comes to such important issues, which will affect people all over the UK. I will be doing all that I can as a Member of Parliament to ensure that this is the system that we allow.