Does paying for Revlimid mean we have to stop funding other NHS services?
We saw in the documentary an NHS Commissioner saying that she was annoyed about Revlimid being approved as this will divert money away from what her PCT considers to be higher priority areas. There was an unfortunate suggestion that funding Revlimid for myeloma patients would ultimately mean that the PCT could not deliver the care it wanted in areas such as infant and early mortality. NHS commissioners find it hard to cope with high cost drugs for rare diseases. They often see them as a ‘low priority’ as there may not be many people in their area who will benefit and without additional funding from central government, they feel they are in a position where they cannot fund the drugs without sacrificing healthcare which they consider greater priority in their area. There are many demands on local NHS resources and additional funding does not follow NICE-approved drugs. However, Myeloma UK feels that this talk of ‘trade-off’ is very unhelpful. All patients deserve optimal care whatever t
