Doctor hits out at NHS drugs policy

6:03am Friday 25th May 2007

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A LONG-SERVING GP last night launched an outspoken attack on NHS restrictions on cancer drugs.

Darlington GP Dr Ahmet Fuat said the NHS was no longer free at the point of use and is letting down vulnerable cancer patients.

He said restrictions on new cancer drugs widely prescribed in Europe and in the US showed that the NHS was no longer meeting the needs of patients.

"It saddens me that the NHS is withholding care from patients," he said.

Dr Fuat criticised the Government for "wasting" much of the extra money put into health care on "constant reorganisation, IT systems which they haven't got right and managers".

The GP said it was time for a national debate about the future of the NHS.

"We either have to accept that healthcare is rationed, look at another way of funding the NHS or give us the option of contributing 1p more in income tax to pay for these expensive drugs," he said.

His comments were triggered by delays in processing an appeal by his mother-in-law, Pamela Smith, to be given a life-extending drug on the NHS.

But he is also concerned at restrictions placed on other new drugs, such as the kidney cancer drugs Sutent and Nexavar, which are widely available abroad, but not on the NHS.

Mrs Smith's application for the drug was supported by a consultant oncologist from James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, and former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, MP for Darlington. An appeal should have been heard on May 17, but Mrs Smith's family have been told that is likely to be postponed until the next meeting of Darlington Primary Care Trust, on June 21.

Mrs Smith, 62, from Darlington, who has advanced bowel cancer, was told by her NHS consultant that the only drug that might prolong her life is Erbitux

But last year, drugs watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence ruled that the drug was not cost-effective enough to be available on the NHS.

Because of that decision, Darlington Primary Care Trust has so far refused to pay for the drug.

Since early April, Mrs Smith, who is blind and a mother of five, has paid nearly £10,000 to have Erbitux privately.

Dr Fuat, who has worked as an NHS family doctor in Darlington for 21 years, said restrictions that meant UK specialists were unable to prescribe fully-licensed cancer drugs, meant the NHS was no longer doing its job.

"The crux is that it is not a national health service free at the point of use any more, and we can't keep claiming that," said Dr Fuat, who works at the Carmel medical centre in the town.

The GP has decided he will not serve on the successor to Darlington Primary Care Trust's (PCT) Professional Executive Committee in protest against prescribing restrictions on Erbitux and other new cancer drugs.

Commenting about the delayed hearing, Dr Fuat said: "I don't think it is acceptable to wait yet another month, which means she has to find another £4,500 for drugs. This is her life they are playing with."

The PCT's medical director, Hilton Dixon, said: "We are unable to comment on individual cases. Final appeals are heard in the confidential section of the board, where matters are given full and careful consideration.

"These meetings are normally held monthly, but the PCT has the ability to call additional ones where circumstances dictate and urgent decisions are required."

Earlier this month, the British Medical Association issued a discussion document calling for a public debate on the future of the NHS and warned that priority-setting was inevitable because of limited resources.

Health Minister Andy Burnham said: "We resist any call to make the NHS a slimmed-down, emergency service. The NHS should continue to be comprehensive and universal."