NHS routinely withholds available drugs for patients with cancer and other major diseases, 'NHS drugs rationing chief' says patients must be more assertive-UK Telegraph, BBC

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"Earlier this week a Government report found that thousands of patients are not receiving drugs for cancer and other major diseases, even though they have been approved by NICE, the body which decides which treatments the health service should fund."..."NICE decides which drugs can and cannot by prescribed on the NHS."

1/24/14, "NHS patients should be pushy with GPs about treatment and drugs, says health chief," UK Telegraph

"Patients should adopt American attitudes to make sure they get treated, says NHS drugs rationing chief Professor David Haslam."

"Patients should adopt “American” attitudes and be more pushy with their doctors about drugs to which they are entitled, the head of the NHS rationing body has said.
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Professor David Haslam, chairman of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), said British patients should become more assertive and see themselves as “equal partners” with their doctors, with legal rights. 
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He said patients in this country needed to learn from the Americans, who are far more confident about entering into dialogue with family doctors about their health, and taking an active role in managing their health. 
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Prof Haslam said too many patients were not being offered medications approved by NICE – and should learn more about their conditions and ask for drugs which should be prescribed for them.

In an interview with The Telegraph, he said: “When products have been approved for use by the NHS by Nice, patients have a legal right to those drugs - as long as they are clinically appropriate. The take-up should be much higher than it currently is."

He said the rationing body was carrying out work to examine why so many patients are not being prescribed medications, even though they have been endorsed by NICE – meaning local NHS organisations should not refuse to fund them.

But he said individual patients should become more knowledgeable about their health conditions, and tell their doctors if they believed they were missing out on treatment which could help them.

The former GP said: “The fundamental point is it’s your body - and the more you understand about the drugs you are taking, or what you might be able to have, the better you are able to work with your doctor.”

He said that when working as a doctor in Cambridgeshire, near an American air force base, he was struck by the contrast in attitudes between the many US patients who consulted him, and the more deferential approach of local residents.

He said: “Americans tended to want to know more about their treatment than the British who tend to be much more ‘thank you doctor, I will take that’.”...

He said he was not suggesting patients should issue orders or be confrontational, but that they should be able to assert what they wanted, and only be refused drugs which are backed by NICE if there were good clinical reasons why the medication would not suit them. 

“I think it is essential for the future of the health service and for the future health of the nation that patients understand their conditions, their treatments and work with their health advisors so they can have the best care,” he said.

Earlier this week a Government report found that thousands of patients are not receiving drugs for cancer and other major diseases, even though they have been approved by NICE, the body which decides which treatments the health service should fund....

Its chairman, who was appointed last April, said the watchdog was used to accusations of “nanny state” tactics but said that many people needed advice about how to live their lives. 

He said: “Despite us all thinking this is common sense it clearly isn’t. There’s an awful lot of people that need to be reminded about these issues and that’s not nannying, it’s not taking over as the state - it's supporting people.”...

Last year NICE issued guidance to GPs which said that doctors trying to tackle soaring obesity should not blame patients for being fat, having previously said that they should not use the word “obese” because it was derogatory. 

Prof Haslam said: “When we encouraged doctors to be less judgement in the way they addressed people with weight issues that generated a few thousand column inches.

“I completely understand that, on one level but we looked at the evidence – it is if you approach people in a non-judgemental way they are less defensive and you get better results. “

Death of school cookery classes has left generation with no idea how to feed their children
 
Generations of children are growing up on ready meals because their parents were never taught cookery at school, the chairman of NICE said.

Prof Haslam said that although to some healthy eating might seem like “common sense,” many families had little knowledge of how to feed their children nutricious meals, while others failed to make it a priority.

He said: “I am hugely concerned about generations who lack skills in cooking from basic ingredients....

Last year, Government research found that just one in six families cook a meal from scratch every day."

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1/25/14, "Patients should be pushier with GPs, says watchdog chairman," BBC

"Patients have been urged to adopt a pushier attitude to get doctors to prescribe the drugs they need.

Prof David Haslam, chairman of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) told the Daily Telegraph people should see themselves as equal partners with their doctors.

NICE decides which drugs can and cannot by prescribed on the NHS.

Prof David Haslam said patients had a "legal right" to medicines once they had been endorsed.

He compared the deferential attitude of British patients towards their GPs to that of Americans who "want to know more about their treatment". 

'Your body'
 
In the UK people "tend to be much more, 'thank you doctor, I will take that'," he said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

Prof Haslam told the paper "mercifully" attitudes in the UK were changing but that patients should be more proactive about their health. 

The NHS faced criticism last week over figures apparently suggesting certain drugs were not being used, despite being given the green light from Nice.

But Prof Haslam told the Telegraph: "When products have been approved for use by the NHS by NICE, patients have a legal right to those drugs - as long as they are clinically appropriate. 

"The take-up should be much higher than it currently is."...

And he said to get the best healthcare, patients should understand more about the medicines available. "The fundamental point is, it's your body," he said.

"And the more you understand about the drugs you are taking, or what you might be able to have, the better you are able to work with your doctor."

'Best care'
 
The former GP was not suggesting patients should be confrontational with their doctor, the Telegraph said.

But he added: "It is essential for the future of the health service and for the future health of the nation that patients understand their conditions, their treatments and work with their health advisors so they can have the best care."

Prof Haslam became chairman of the Nice board in April.

He warned recently the UK's obesity problem could be even worse than the "doomsday scenario" set out seven years ago."
 
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