She wrote to the health minister on my behalf.
This is the reply.
Thank you for your letter of 14th January to Simon Burns enclosing correspondence from your constituent, Ms Debbie Brewer about chemoembolisation for the treatment of mesothelioma. I am replying as the minister for this policy area.
I was sorry to read of Ms Brewer's health problems. I appreciate how important this issue is for Ms Brewer and other people with mesothelioma.
However, there is no evidence for the use of chemoembolisation for primary lung cancer patients although there is some evidence for possible benefit where the cancer has metastasised to the liver.
As Ms Brewer may be aware, the national institute for the health and clinical excellence (NICE) has not issued any guidance to the NHS on the use of chemoembolisation for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma.
In the absence of NICE guidance on a particular treatment for specific condition, it is for local primary care trusts (PCT) to make funding decisions, based on an assessment of the available evidence and on the basis of an individual patient's circumstances. Individual clinicians will decide on suitable courses of treatment based on clinical evidence available and after discussion with the patient about the potential benefits and risks of the treatment.
The NHS constitution states that patients have the right to expect local decisions on the funding of drugs and treatments 'to be made rationally following a proper consideration of the evidence'. If the local PCT decides not to fund a treatment, then it should explain the decision.
To underpin this right, the department has issued a set of core principles to inform the way the PCTs make decisions about funding drugs and treatments such as chemoembolisation. PCTs are requiredto have in place clear and transparent arrangements for local decision-making on funding of treatments and for considering exceptional funding requests. In addition the department has published good practice guidance for PCTs about the process they should have in place to make decisions about funding and handling exceptional cases. The guidance can be accessed on the National Prescribing Centre's website at www.npc.co.uk.
Ms Brewer may be interested to know that we have also set out plans to establish a Cancer Drugs Fund from April 2011 as a means of improving patient access to cancer drugs prior to the anticipated reform of arrangements for branded drugs pricing. We have also worked hard to prioritise budgets in this financial year so that we can bring forward funding to improve access to cancer treatments, ahead of the introduction of the cancer drugs fund. From 1 October 2010, we made an additional £50 million available to the NHS to pay for cancer drugs.
Decisions on the use of this funding are a matter for local clinically-led panels based on the advice of cancer specialists, Access to the funding will be through a patient's treating specialist and patients are advised to discuss this issue further with their clinician in order to decide the best course of action.
Finally, we have consulted on our plans for the design of the Dancer Drugs Fund. Decisions on the implementation of the fund will be taken once the responses to the consultation, which closed on 19 January 2011, have been considered.
Further information will be made available on the Department of Health website at www.dh.gov.uk in due course.
Following the spending review, the government has committed £200 million to the fund in each of the three years from April 2011 to support improved access to the cancer drugs.
I hope this reply is helpful.
Earl Howe.
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