Welsh Conservatives have welcomed the Health Minister’s announcement on improving the availability of medicines for patients in Wales.
Commenting on the Minister’s statement, Shadow Health Minister Andrew RT Davies AM said:
“Welsh Conservatives have been calling for improvements in the availability of medicines for patients in Wales for some time now.
“The current regulations have left patients and clinicians in difficult positions when trying to manage patient outcomes, particularly in the treatment of cancer and towards the end of life.
“The Minister’s decision means that difficult constraints can be removed and incidents of patients not being able to obtain a medicine from the NHS that their clinician believes is likely to be right for them will be significantly reduced.
“This move will also remove the risk of losing the right to NHS treatment if a patient pays for medicines that are not available on the NHS.
“I welcome the safeguards that the Minister has put in place as it means that patients and clinicians have clarity on this issue and will not fall foul of regulations.
“This will undoubtedly improve patient outcomes and ease the burden on patients and their families, as well as the clinicians administering their care.”
