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Introduction
NHS Update
is a precis of current NHS changes and developments that may impact on the
business and activities of UK Pharmaceutical sales teams. A more comprehensive
monthly review, along with other relevant intelligence and useful feature
articles, is available via our free newsletter: PharmaceuticalReview.
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1.NICE.
Last month's
TAG recommending that atypical antipsychotics should be considered alongside
traditional medicines was of huge significance to relevant companies. NICE has
estimated that this will add some £70m in additional drug costs per annum
to the NHS. The charity Mind has suggested that this money will be taken from
existing services, such as crisis and outreach teams. But NICE's green light
met with mixed reactions, including concerns over both the cost and the
scientific basis of the decision. Last year the BMJ published a paper by Dr
John Geddes and Prof. Paul Harrison from Oxford University's Department of
Psychiatry. They concluded that there was 'no clear evidence' that the new
drugs were any better than traditional drugs. Dr Geddes said of the decision,
"The jury is still out on the quality of these treatments. There have not been
any systematic independent trials - most have been done for licensing
purposes". Cliff Prior, Chief Executive of the NSF found the comments by
academics 'extraordinary'. "The ruling by NICE is ground-breaking, putting the
user at the heart of healthcare decision-making. It should be welcomed,
implemented and funded."
2. NHS/Industry Parnerships.
An important note for industry readers has appeared on the DoH
website. This about how the pharmaceutical industry can be involved in the
development and implementation of NSFs. It suggests that Industry might wish to
offer facilitation or support regional workshops. "The industry has both the
expertise (and in some areas, resource capacity) to bring to bear in the
professional development of GPs, primary health and social care teams,
clinicians and others. Collaborating with the industry in delivery of a NSF
would be of significant advantage to both DoH and the Industry where a
pharmaceutical intervention has been identified in the NSF. See
www.doh.gov.uk/nsf/pharmaceutical.htm. So some very good
news here. These messages might need to be picked up and rolled out by Industry
NHS Teams.
3. Primary Care.
Public health professionals are raising concerns at the lack of detail about
the level and resourcing of the public health function in PCTs. For more on
public health and PCTs see the report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on
Primary Care and Public Health. This welcomes for instance the
multidisciplinary approach now being taken in PCT land. For example, Plymouth
PCT's DPH is a health visitor. PCTs have been invited to apply to be a third
wave site for the National Medicines Management Services (MMS) Collaborative
Programme beginning in October 2002. A third wave of some 40 sites will take
the numbers to a third of all PCTs (106). See
www.npc.co.uk/mms. On April 1 this year, there were 1200
new recruits to the NHS - these were the lay chairs and non-executive directors
of PCTs. Are these Industry customers? Non-execs get involved in many PCT
subcommittees and working groups and could indeed be relevant. Perhaps they
need factoring into PCT account management strategies?
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