End Of Life Funding Doubles

The amount of money being made available to treat people with rare and end-of-life conditions is to be doubled.

The Scottish Government is to increase the New Medicines Fund to £80 million. It was set up last year to support health boards who were struggling to cover the costs of end-of-life drugs.

The fund also supports changes to the way the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) assesses medicines for use in NHS Scotland, which is resulting in an increasing number of treatments being approved for patients with very rare conditions or at end of life.

On a visit this morning to the Scottish Cystic Fibrosis Service at the Western General in Edinburgh, Health Secretary Shona Robison said the New Medicines Fund had helped give patients across Scotland access to some of the most-advanced treatments and therapies.

Ms Robison said: “This Government, working with the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee, has radically overhauled access to treatments for people with rare and end-of-life conditions, and the New Medicines Fund has been key to removing a potential barrier to accessing expensive new drugs.

“Today, I have heard first hand from patients with cystic fibrosis about how some of these new drugs coming on the market can have a life-changing impact.

“For many patients, innovative treatments can extend their lives or improve the quality of the time they have left, and I am clear that we should be doing all we can to make these available.

“That is why I am announcing today that we will double the resources available to fund new medicines, committing £80 million next year to support patients needing rare or end-of-life treatments.

“The fund will work in tandem with the changes introduced to the SMC process, which has given patients greater say over decisions and resulted in more drugs approved for widespread use on the NHS.”

Yvonne Hughes, Public Affairs Officer for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said: “We are delighted to be here today to hear the announcement of additional funding to be put into the New Medicines Fund. This fund currently pays for a small group of people with cystic fibrosis to receive a life changing drug.

“I believe this announcement will put at rest the minds of patients who were unsure of the future of the fund and, not only that, take comfort that the Scottish Government have paid attention and continue to support small patient populations, and those at end of life to receive drugs that really do make life-changing or life-extending improvements.”

Gregor McNie, senior public affairs manager for Cancer Research UK in Scotland, said: “This is good news as a boost in spending will help more cancer patients to have the latest medicines.
 
“Cancer Research UK believes all patients should receive the best treatments for their condition, and we welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to make it easier for patients to get the medicine they need.
 
“It’s crucial that this fund represents a sustainable way to pay for medicines, and that all health boards and doctors know about it and can use it to benefit their patients.”

James Jopling, Director Scotland, Breast Cancer Campaign and Breakthrough Breast Cancer welcomed the increase to the resources of New Medicines Fund and the resulting support for patients in Scotland to be given additional access to rare and end-of-life medicines.
 
He said: “It’s vital that the Scottish Government ensure that this increase in funding is made available for all patients who are dealing with rare diseases or those conditions that will sadly end their lives. In particular, we need to see fairer access to those high cost but effective medicines rejected by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) because they aren’t currently considered ‘value for money’. Cost simply shouldn’t be an issue where we know there are treatments that could extend life.  But in a public health system we accept that it always will be. 
 
“This fund is intended to pay for drugs approved by the SMC as well as funding Individual Patient Treatment Requests (IPTRs) for drugs not approved by the SMC. We need to make sure this money is accessed fully and fairly right across Scotland, for all those who need these drugs to provide precious good quality time before the end of their lives.”