Cancer Drugs Fund

Last year the Public Accounts Committee, which I Chair, raised serious concerns about the evaluation of drugs provided through the Cancer Drugs Fund.

We concluded that the Fund required significant and urgent reform if it was to be sustainable.

If patients seeking support through schemes such as this are to get the best possible treatment, there must be confidence that public money is being spent on the right medication, at a fair price.

The critical study of the Cancer Drugs Fund published in Annals of Oncology today makes clear, the Fund did not represent meaningful value.

This must serve as a lesson to future governments seeking to commit public money to projects that, without effective management, are doomed to fail both patients and taxpayers in general.

Read the Committee’s report here and today’s report in the Annals of Oncology here.