NO FUNDING FOR ESSENTIAL DRUG ; Patients Missing Out on Treatment
Posted on: Thursday, 4 November 2004, 06:00 CST
PATIENTS with a hereditary fatal illness in Birmingham are missing out on life-saving drugs because health bosses are refusing to give enough cash.
A third of Cystic Fibrosis patients face problems getting essential drugs, new research reveals today.
Specialist centres at Heartlands and Birmingham Children's Hospitals receive only half the amount to funding from primary care trusts they need to employ enough doctors and nurses and give patients a basic chance of survival.
The Cystic Fibrosis Trust report shows city GPs are also refusing to prescribe specialist treatment because of restrictions on cash.
Grieving mum Christine Adams, whose 24-year-old daughter Vicky died from the condition this year, said health chiefs were not doing enough to help sufferers.
'Cystic Fibrosis patients suffer so much but centres are not getting enough money to help them enough,' said the 57-year-old care assistant, of Bustleholme Lane, West Bromwich.
'I would like to see more spent on treatment. My daughter suffered so much at the end. It's heart-breaking and I wouldn't want other people to go through that unnecessarily.'
Vicky, a former pupil at Menzies High school, died before a lung transplant could be found to save her life.
In Birmingham, 600 patients are treated for the illness that affects the lungs and has a life-expectancy of only 31, yet many die in their late teens or early 20s. Length and quality of life are dependent on a high level of medical care.
A spokeswoman at Heartlands specialist centre, which is the second largest of its kind in the country, said: 'Funding has relatively remained unchanged for years despite the increased number of patients.
'Small amounts of money have been received for additional drugs, but this is very small in comparison to the growing need.'
Donna Macarthur, head of commissioning for Birmingham's primary care trusts, said staff were currently reviewing funding.
Source: Evening Mail; Birmingham (UK)
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