N,I.C.E approved drugs denied to patients by Health Boards

'Scorecards' to force NHS hospitals to use recommended drugs for patients



By next year every hospital will be rated using an 'Innovation Scorecard'. Health authorities that are found to be denying approved treatments will face censure by the Department of Health. N.I.C.E have approved many drugs for administration, such as Xarleto ( rivaroxaban ) and Pradaxa ( dabigatran etexilate ), which would replace Warfarin and end the need for the onerous I N R blood tests, but our Universally Inept Health Board will not allow GPs in Cardiff and the Vale to prescribe them. Why not ? Cost - these new drugs are deemed to be too expensive to be used when huge cuts are supposed to be made to their budget. But, what is their budget ? How is it set, and by whom ? What are the specific factors that determine which service has to bear the cuts, and which communitiees are given lower priority ?



As usual, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Leslie Griffiths, refuses to provide this essential information ( except that the C & V UHB have STILL to cut £76m in service costs this year. ) With other reports showing massive cuts already made, it begs the question - "Why are these figures constantly increasing, despite cuts already made ?" Still, the Minister refuses to justify any of these continually increasing figures, or to provide ANY details of the specific specialities that are ( supposed ) to have irresponsibly caused by the alleged overspending - all committed under the close scrutiny of our inept government and the ( supposedly ) independent Wales Audit Office. [You may recall that two years ago, this Universally Inept Health Board were said to have to save only (?) £20m for that fiscal year. Yet, massive savings are made but the figure of budget cuts still goes on rising. Nothing that the UHB, the Minister, or the Welsh Government reoprts provide any explanation for these spurious cuts. We can only remain completley bemused and ignorant by these spurious, farcical figures, whilst suffering continual insults to our intelligence, made by people not competent to do their jobs. We are constantly facing changes of bureaucrats, with promoted supporters providing living proof of the Peter Principle. So, people barely qualified in their existing jobs are promoted to jobs they have no experience of and not a clue how to make function, proving that billions of our public money are in the hands of incompetent politicians and bureaucrats ( talking bureauCRAP ), with public opinion completely ignored. The list of essential drugs being deliberately withheld is huge, denying patients of the relief that they offer.



The statements from 'hospital managers are even more perverse. i.e "We can only afford to providenew drugs or treatments where they are cost-effective and demonstrably add real patient benefits." Strange - isn't it that this is the remit of N.I.C.E. Therefore, their approval is all that is needed to provide drugs that are cost-effective and add real patient benefits. Consequently, it begs the question " Do they know their own remit, and why not just obey N.I.C.E. ??



At the risk of sounding cynical, it makes me wonder why Herceptin was handed out like Smarties, at enormous cost when the maximum only likely benefit was estimated to be to 1 in 18 women only. Why are we not told the results of this huge expenditure, or does the answer fall in the same question, why were millions committed to changing privately made breast implants, that conflicted with the essential restructuring of the poor women who have had to endure mastectomy ??? R.W.