A CANCER patient claims a primary care trust is refusing to fund an expensive course of drugs - despite other sufferers at the same hospital receiving the treatment.

John McNamara, from Pannal, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, said he is not being given the drug Velcade, to help in his fight against bone marrow cancer, although he believes other sufferers are getting the treatment.

The father-of-three was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2004. He said that North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) informed consultants at St James's Hospital, Leeds, where he is being treated, that it is not willing to fund a course of treatment with the drug.

Mr McNamara, 47, said he was aware that patients from West Yorkshire who are being looked after by his consultant haematologist have been treated with Velcade.

Velcade is known to prolong patients' lives by up to five years and a 24-week course costs about £21,000.

Mr McNamara, said: "I was close to breaking down when I heard what the PCT had decided.

"But we have decided that the PCT cannot be allowed to get away with this, not only for my sake but for any other patients who find themselves in the position I am in."

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has recommended a scheme to fund the drug bortezomib (commonly known as Velcade) for sufferers who respond well to it. Under the scheme, the drug's manufacturer would refund the NHS when the treatment does not work.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust said: "When a clinician seeks to provide treatment that is not routinely commissioned by the local NHS, the clinician can refer the patient to the PCT's complex case panel."

It is understood that Mr McNamara's case is being reviewed by the panel.