NHS England is taking welcome new steps to encourage clinical leaders to champion proven innovation in the NHS

Dr Amit Aggarwal, Director of Medical Affairs at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), welcomes the steps NHS England has taken to tackle inequalities in patient access to new medicines.

With more than 8,000 medicines in development worldwide, 74% of which are potentially first-in-class, patients have more reasons to be optimistic than ever before.[i] However, despite progress in some areas, the adoption of groundbreaking treatments remains inconsistent across England and the wider UK.

Tackling these inequalities in uptake is a shared endeavour between the NHS and industry. The constitution of the NHS itself sets out the rights to which patients are entitled, including the right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE for use.[ii]

Rapid and consistent adoption of evidence-based, innovative medicines is an opportunity to boost the nation’s health, and the importance of clinical leaders in making the case for adopting proven new medicines cannot be overstated.

That is why Chapter 3 of the 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access, and growth (VPAG) had an important commitment to improve patient outcomes by supporting access to, and uptake of, NICE-approved clinically and cost-effective medicines, recognising that clinical leadership is an essential part of achieving this.

With that in mind, and with the ABPI’s support, NHS England has now made some important changes. First, NHS England have amended over 240 national and regional clinical leadership job descriptions to reflect this responsibility to support consistent, timely and equitable adoption of NICE guidance and guidelines, as well as best practice care pathways.

Alongside this, they have also published a clinical leadership briefing for clinicians throughout the NHS. It demonstrates to the rest of the NHS the importance that NHS England’s leaders place on making sure patients get timely and equitable access to the latest clinically and cost-effective treatments.

Taken together, these steps demonstrate a genuine commitment to clinical leadership, and we applaud the moves NHS England has made.

The Darzi Review and the NHS 10-Year Plan set out the current demands on the NHS, and the nation’s health, in stark terms. As the changes NHS England have made take effect, it will be important to monitor and track their impact to ensure patients are benefitting from these changes and address any areas of concern.

Clinical and regional leaders across NHS England will now have a greater focus on tackling inequalities and improving health outcomes. This is a great step forward and will help to make sure we have a truly national health service when it comes to accessing effective, innovative therapies and treatments.

[i] PhRMA, In The Pipeline | PhRMA

[ii] Department of Health and Social Care (2023) NHS Constitution for England, GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-constitution-for-england (Accessed: 28 November 2024).