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The Prosser Perspective.... a weekly column from Dover and Deal MP Gwyn Prosser

22 January 2009

Dealing with case work and helping people with their individual problems takes up more and more of an MP’s time these days and Dover & Deal is a particularly busy constituency for this kind of work.

Case work throws up thousands of different issues covering every aspect of modern living and all the complexities of human nature. Some people’s problems might seem relatively trivial to the casual observer but to the constituent it’s often the most important thing in the world.

Of all the matters brought to my advice surgeries and street stalls the most difficult to deal with are the issues brought to me from victims of cancer and their distraught families. There are those who have had difficulty accessing the life-saving or life-prolonging drugs they’ve been recommended and others who have difficulty paying for the medication they’ve been prescribed.

Decisions on which drugs should be administered to which patients are made by the independent agency known as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence or NICE. Contrary to popular belief, the institute’s decisions are not based on the size of the drugs bill. NICE advises the NHS on which treatments are both clinically and cost effective. Their role is to consider whether the claims of the pharmaceutical companies are backed by the evidence and a careful judgment is made about what represents value for money for the taxpayer.

Despite this careful scrutiny I am sometimes approached by cancer sufferers who’s circumstances are, in my mind, exceptional and I take these cases to the Secretary of State and plead their cause to the Chief Executive of the Primary care trust and to the local decision making panel. Thankfully, these representations are usually successful.

As to the second category – those who can’t afford the medication they are prescribed – help is at hand. I have been a long-time supporter of Macmillan Cancer Support, I’ve been pleased to be part of their campaign to scrap drug charges for cancer sufferers and I’m delighted that my Government has acted on our recommendations.

From today, people being treated for cancer, who hold a medical exemption certificate, will be eligible for free prescriptions from 1st April and they will be able to apply for their certificates at any time from today. The new scheme extends exemption from NHS prescription charges for everyone undergoing treatment for cancer, the effects of cancer, or the effects of cancer treatment.

This new scheme gives people living with cancer one less worry at such a difficult time and I would urge patients to make an appointment with their GP this week to talk about applying for their exemption certificates in good time.

I’m so pleased the Government has listened to our pleas and abolished prescription charges for cancer patients. This was absolutely the right thing to do because cancer not only threatens your life, it can impact seriously on your general wellbeing and your pocket. Free prescriptions will transform the lives of thousands of people living with cancer who in the past have been struggling to meet their bills for the essential drugs that offer them a hopeful future.