Charity plea on cancer drug money

More than 18,000 patients have so far benefited from the Cancer Drugs Fund but when the scheme stops in 2014 many could miss out, the Rarer Cancers Foundation (RCF) said today.

Ministers have allocated £650m to be spent on treatments which are not yet available on the NHS in England. The fund is to continue until the end of March 2014, but the RCF is concerned about the availability of the drugs after then.

RCF chief executive Andrew Wilson said: “The NHS should be there when you need it the most and, thanks to the Cancer Drugs Fund, it has been for thousands of patients. However, the impact of cancer will not stop in 2014. It is concerning that no arrangements are in place to ensure that patients continue to get access.”

More than 10,000 patients benefited from the fund during its first year.

The RCF has predicted if the fund was in place between 2015 and 2020, it could benefit 80,000 more patients.

Care services Minister Paul Burstow said: “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.”