Ditching ‘crazy’ NHS rules ‘could solve HRT nightmare in a week’
MY MISSION TO HELP WOMEN, BY LISA SNOWDON
‘CRAZY’ NHS bureaucracy is preventing doctors from prescribing hormone replacement therapies (HRT) that could immediately help thousands of menopausal women, it was claimed last night.
The manufacturer of Bijuve, a substitute for Oestrogel for which there is a chronic shortage, say they have pallets of supplies gathering dust in a warehouse but cannot ship them out due to red tape.
Tina Backhouse, of Theramex, which makes Bijuve, said the crisis could be eased within days if drug approval rules were streamlined. ‘It really could be a quick win,’
‘We increased production and our stocks are very good’
she said. ‘Frankly, this red-tape nightmare could be solved by the end of the week.’
Around a million women in the UK take HRT in patches, pills or gel form to replace hormones lost during the menopause. Supply issues have left tens of thousands struggling to access products, particularly Oestrogel.
Last week The Mail on Sunday combined forces with our sister paper, the Daily Mail, to launch our Fix The HRT Crisis campaign.
Bijuve is an alternative and has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, yet is available only in three areas – Somerset, Norfolk and Oxford – because around 150 NHS hospital trusts and almost 130 NHS clinical commissioning groups have yet to sign it off.
Theramex representatives will meet with Health Secretary Sajid Javid and the new HRT tsar Madelaine McTernan on Thursday.
While Bijuve is not suitable for all women currently prescribed Oestrogel, both are ‘body identical’ forms of HRT, meaning they are practically identical to the human sex hormones they are replacing.
Some 30,000 women rely on Oestrogel and Ms Backhouse said Theramex ‘definitely has the capacity’ to step in. ‘Twelve months ago we increased our production and our stocks are very good,’ she said.
Describing the system as ‘crazy’, she added: ‘It would be better for there to be a national formulary [for HRT medicines] with experts giving recommendations on what should be on the list. That would cut out the local bureaucracy.’
Dr Paula Briggs, chair-elect of the British Menopause Society, said the current system of local sign-off was ‘massively’ delaying the use of new therapies.
Demand for HRT in Britain has risen in recent years, in part due to celebrities talking about their own menopause. TV presenter Davina McCall created the so-called ‘Davina effect’ by heralding the benefits of HRT, and Lisa Snowdon, who speaks about her campaign to help women in today’s You magazine, have done much to raise awareness.