Cancer: Drugs

(asked on 16th September 2015) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients who have made use of the Cancer Drugs Fund in each year since 2011; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
George Freeman Portrait
George Freeman
This question was answered on 12th October 2015

Prior to April 2013, the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority (SHA). Information on the number of patients accessing the Fund in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 is shown below:

Number of patients1 funded in 2010-11

Number of patients funded in 2011-12

Number of patients funded in 2012-13

England

2,780

11,798

15,456

Source: Information provided to the Department by SHAs

1 Some individual patients may be double-counted where a patient has received more than one drug treatment through the CDF.

Information on the number of unsuccessful applications made to the CDF during this period was not collected centrally.

Post April 2013, NHS England has had responsibility for the Fund and it publishes information on CDF activity including unsuccessful notifications routinely on its website. Information for 2013-14 and 2014-15 is available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/

The CDF has already helped over 72,000 people in England to receive the life-extending cancer drugs that would not otherwise have been routinely available to them.

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