Healthcare Commission needs effective teeth
The Healthcare Commission should have effective teeth and ensure that guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence is implemented everywhere in England and Wales.
So stated Andrew Curl, deputy director general of the Association of
the British Pharmaceutical Industry when he spoke at a media lunch earlier
this week.
Mr Curl was responding to comments made by Sir Michael Rawlins, chairman
of NICE, who two weeks ago urged patients’ groups to take the NHS
to court if it fails to provide the drugs and treatments NICE recommends.
Professor Rawlins told an audience at a fringe meeting of the Labour
Party Conference: “What I would love to see is a group of patients’ organisations
taking one trust to judicial review. It doesn’t even have to get
to court — but it would send the message out.”
Mr Curl pointed out that although NICE was set up to end postcode prescribing
it was widely acknowledged that it still occurred.
Kevin James, managing director of Wyeth UK, also speaking at the ABPI
lunch, said that in some cases the uptake of new drugs was slow because
the infrastructure was not always in place, for example the employment
of skilled nurses to monitor patients. |
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