Cancer drugs fund treats hundreds in Yorkshire

The Department of Health said £4.9m was spent in 2011-12 in the region from the Cancer Drugs Fund on treatment for patients who would otherwise miss out mainly because the drugs are too expensive for the NHS or have been rejected over doubts about their effectiveness. Wide regional variations in the provision of rarer drugs were found but the 10 most commonly used were offered across the country.

A separate study based on NHS figures by the Rarer Cancers Foundation, which is heavily sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry, found only 700 applications had been approved in the region but at a higher cost of £8.8m, with only seven requests from doctors turned down.

It said York Hospital was among the top 10 applicants to the fund in England per cancer patient treated.

The charity called on Ministers to confirm funding would continue after 2014 when it is due to end, claiming more than 80,000 patients could otherwise be denied treatment in the five years to 2020.

Care Services Minister Paul Burstow said: “We can see that the Cancer Drugs Fund is making a difference to the lives of thousands of people with cancer.

“The amount of funding we have made available has been more than sufficient to provide clinicians with the freedom to provide the cancer drugs they believe will benefit their patients.”