According to the NHS, the latest changes to the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) will “provide patients with faster access to the most promising new cancer treatments”. Most existing prostate cancer treatments are already included – and Tackle has been at the forefront of campaigning on your behalf to ensure they are.

Sounds promising! But the NHS have only a finite amount of money available. Concerns have been expressed that pharmaceutical companies have been overcharging and, in order to try to prevent this occurring, the NHS plans to offer “those pharmaceutical companies that are willing to price their products responsibly, a new fast-track route to NHS funding for the best and most promising drugs via an accelerated NICE appraisal process and a new CDF managed access scheme”.

What this means in practice, therefore, is that if the NHS can’t reach agreement with a pharma company on price, the drug/treatment won’t be approved and patients will lose out.

Whilst we understand that finances are limited, we urge NHS to put patients first and prevent unnecessary suffering.

You can read the full NHS England document about how the CDF will operate here.