NHS funding set to speed up access for new drug therapies

NHS patients are to be fast-tracked for cutting-edge drug therapies as part of efforts to beat record backlogs

Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, said the launch of the £340million Innovative Medicines Fund would speed up access to potentially life-saving treatments.

The scheme aims to ensure that the most promising therapies for rare diseases are not subject to unnecessary delays while large amounts of research data are gathered.

Officials said the new medicines fund would allow access to novel treatments, including life-saving gene therapies, while the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence makes longer-term judgments about whether a treatment is clinically and cost effective.

It follows a Tory manifesto pledge in 2019 to ensure that doctors can use the most advanced, life-saving treatments.

Mr Javid said: “I want NHS patients to be the first in the world to access the most promising and revolutionary treatments that could extend or save their lives.”