Attached press release from the Department of Health in England
Best wishes
David McDaid
LSE Health and Social Care
New plans to ensure fair access to recommended drugs 
Published: 
Monday 14 June 2004 
Reference number: 
2004/0222 
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/PressReleases/PressReleasesNotices/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4083965&chk=EDM/5A
Health Secretary John Reid today set out plans to ensure patients across the country have equal access to treatments recommended by the independent National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).
He published a report by the National Cancer Director, Professor Mike Richards, which shows unacceptably high variations across the country in the uptake of cancer drugs approved by NICE.
John Reid also published a letter from Health Minister Lord Warner to key stakeholders setting out the Department's plans to ensure better implementation of NICE recommendations across the NHS.
John Reid said:
'We have seen major progress made in fighting cancer, with a 10% fall in premature death rates since 1996. But I recognise there is more to do and there are areas where our services are not as good as they should be.
'Mike Richards' report today highlights one area where we need to act - and I am determined to ensure patients across the country have access to drugs which can help them.
'I will be asking the local NHS to set out their plans for improvement in the specific areas highlighted in Mike Richards' report. More generally, we are setting out detailed plans today for ensuring recommendations made by NICE are adopted by the NHS across the country, and I will be working with the Healthcare Commission to examine how they can address this issue when assessing each hospital trust.'
Lord Warner's letter sets out a series of steps designed to improve the way in which the NHS implements NICE guidance. They include:
*       Ensuring access to better information about implementation of NICE guidance by bringing forward the introduction of electronic hospital prescribing to 2006 from 2008-10. This will allow patterns of low prescribing of particular drugs to be identified and addressed. 
*       In the short term, a new agreement with commercial firm IMS will give the NHS access to better data on current prescribing patterns. 
*       NICE will continue to review the way in which it disseminates and promotes its guidance to make sure that it is available to front-line staff when they need it and in the format that best suits them, and that patients are aware of treatments from which they can benefit. 
*       NICE will also ensure its guidance - which already looks at the costs of new drugs, devices and procedures - provides advice on all the major costs of its guidance and provides advice on the best ways of ensuring full implementation. 
*       NICE will work with NHS partners to help disseminate best practice in the implementation of its guidance. 
John Reid added: 
'There is clear evidence from the treatment of other conditions that better information about regional variations in practice is a key lever in reducing these differences. If we can tell doctors in one area that they seem to be using a particular drug much less than colleagues elsewhere, that provides a trigger for them to reassess their own practices and often leads to improved levels of use.
'The steps we are announcing today mean we will have better access to prescribing information much more quickly than planned. I am confident we will be able to use this data to improve the uptake of these important drugs, while ensuring clinicians retain the final say in the treatment of individual patients.'
Andrew Dillon, chief executive of NICE, said: 
'Many more people are getting access to cancer drugs because of NICE guidance. Today's report shows that more still can take advantage of it. We welcome the commitment by the Secretary of State to a plan of action that will encourage the NHS to adopt a consistent approach to using our guidance and we will be putting our weight behind a sustained campaign to ensure that every patient who can benefit from our guidance has the chance to do so.'
Anna Walker, chief executive of the Healthcare Commission said:
"Assessing the implementation of NICE guidance is a high priority for the Healthcare Commission in its role of encouraging improvement in the provision, safety and quality of patient care. We are currently developing our new ratings and review system within which checking the adherence to NHS guidance will be a top priority."