Welsh cancer patients ‘left to die’ by drugs rules

A charity has claimed that patients are being “left to die” in Wales because they are being refused life-extending cancer drugs available elsewhere in the UK.

The Rarer Cancers Foundation said 35 patients were refused the drugs by health boards in Wales between October 2009 and December 2010.

It said there are 22 cancer drugs available in England because of the UK Government’s new cancer drugs fund which will remain unavailable in Wales.

Foundation chief executive Andrew Wilson said: “The NHS should be there when you need it the most, but this is sadly not the case for all cancer patients in Wales. Access to treatment should be based on clinical need and not a lottery based on which side of the border you live.”

Drugs companies help fund the charity, but it said it was speaking up on behalf of patients.

The foundation’s report makes 20 recommendations for the next Assembly Government, including considering what steps can be taken to improve access to cancer treatments in Wales “so as to address the growing inequality in access that exists between Wales and England”.

An Assembly Government spokesman said: “All new drugs deemed clinically and cost effective by NICE or All Wales Medicines Strategy Group are made available on the NHS.