Cancer: Drugs

(asked on 21st February 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s position is on whether patients who initially privately fund a cancer drug can receive it on the NHS if it is subsequently (a) approved for use by NICE, (b) added to NHS England’s National Cancer Drugs Fund List and (c) if they meet the criteria for the drugs' use.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 2nd March 2020

NHS England and NHS Improvement has advised that, following a drug becoming routinely available from the National Health Service, it would expect all eligible patients to be able to access that drug from the NHS.

This principle would also apply for treatments under the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF). A patient previously treated privately would be able to transfer to NHS care and continue treatment available via the CDF, as long as they meet all of the treatment criteria.

For those patients who have previously received all of their care in the private sector and then transfer to NHS care, NHS England and NHS Improvement has advised that it cannot reimburse for treatments given in the private sector or funded privately prior to the treatment becoming routinely available from the NHS.

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