Government body says UK Cancer Drugs Fund not effectively managed

The Cancer Drug Fund, a resource set up to improve drug access for patients, lacks effective management, UK’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has reported. The government body has said it is "unacceptable" that the government is still unable to properly assess the benefit to patients of the Cancer Drugs Fund.

The fund was established in 2010 by the government to improve access to cancer drugs that otherwise would not be routinely available on the NHS.

While about 80,000 people have received drugs through the Fund, "the Department of Health and NHS England do not have the data needed to assess the impact of the Fund on patient outcomes, such as extending patients’ lives, or to demonstrate whether this is a good use of taxpayers’ money," the report said.