CANCER patients who hope to benefit from the Government’s new cancer drug fund will still have to apply to their local primary care trusts, according to a charity.

The James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer, which has supported a number of North-East cancer patients in recent years, said it has learnt how the new cancer drug fund will be administered.

The Department of Health announced the extra £50m and said it wanted the money to be used to help patients get access to often expensive new cancer drugs, even if they have been turned down by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).

Details of how the system will work have still not been released by regional health authorities, despite the fund being launched yesterday.

Cancer charities were hoping that sick patients could apply directly to the fund.

Last night, Rosemary Woodward, from the James Whale fund, said they would still have to go through their local primary care trust and have two requests for regular NHS funding turned down first.

She said: “We have patients lined up waiting to be told how this fund will work. It is not good enough.”

In the North-East, it appears the fund will be managed by the North of England Cancer Drugs Approvals Group.

The group, made up of doctors and NHS managers involved in the care of cancer patients, has a good track record in approving cancer drugs ahead of Nice.

Steve Williamson, consultant pharmacist for the North of England Cancer Network, said: “These additional funds represent potential benefits for some patients seeking cancer treatment and we need to ensure we have a clear process for managing how we use them.”

A spokesman from NHS Yorkshire and the Humber said: “NHS Yorkshire and the Humber has received £5.3m from the Department of Health which will give patients access to cancer drugs which were previously unavailable.

“Local clinicians are now drawing up plans on how best to use the money and give the maximum benefit to patients.”