The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) and the Society of Radiographers (SoR) have urged the government to seize the NHS Cancer Plan as an opportunity to cut red tape blocking some patients from cutting-edge cancer treatments.
In a briefing published on 11 September, the RCR and the SoR “warn that current commissioning and funding structures are stifling innovation and causing unequal access to innovative cancer treatments.”
One example is stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR), a method of accurately targeting radiotherapy to a tumor from many different directions. Compared to conventional radiotherapy, SABR is more cost-efficient for the National Health Service (NHS) as well as being beneficial for the patient, yet the current funding model requires a cumbersome application process that can delay adoption of SABR, the RCR said.
“The funding that trusts receive for delivering SABR can be less than the cost of delivery, so some choose not to adopt it. This perverse financial incentive means some trusts give people less effective cancer treatments instead of this world-class treatment,” it stated.
In addition, for new drug treatments, properly reimbursing providers would allow more to be offered in neighborhood health centers, in community pharmacies, and even at home, which would align with the NHS 10 Year Plan commitments to deliver more specialist treatments and to help people access healthcare wherever they live, the RCR said.
The full title of the brief is "Proposals for the reshaping of cancer services in England: funding for innovative cancer treatments."
For further details, see the article on BBC News.
