Charity welcomes next step in allowing patient voice to be
heard in crucial negotiations
The Department of Health and ABPI have released a joint statement announcing that crucial talks
on changes to the UK-wide system for pricing and assessing new
drugs is to be opened up.
The move follows an influential coalition of leading cancer
charities, led by Prostate Cancer UK, warning the Government that
continuing to exclude patient views from the talks risked seriously
undermining the credibility and effectiveness of the new value
based pricing system.
Prostate Cancer UK has hailed the development as excellent news
and looks forward to significantly greater involvement from
patients from now on.
Owen Sharp, Chief Executive of Prostate Cancer UK, said: "We are
delighted that the consultation into value-based pricing will no
longer take place behind closed doors. This is an excellent
development and is exactly what Prostate Cancer UK and like-minded
charities have been demanding for some time.
"We very much look forward to working with the Department of
Health and ABPI over the coming months to ensure the voice of
patients is heard. Patient groups must have a say in the design of
the new system so that it truly reflects their needs, as it is
their lives that will be most affected."
In November, in the absence of any formal patient engagement in
the discussions on drug pricing, Prostate Cancer UK produced a
report presenting the collective voice of over a dozen leading
cancer charities. The report Value-based pricing: Getting it right for people
with cancer provides crucial insight into patient opinion on
these vitally important negotiations.