NHS 'Broke Drug Pledge' For Smokers And People With Severe Asthma

A promise to ensure people with severe asthma and smokers who want to quit can get the drugs they need has been broken by ministers and the NHS, a health service report reveals.

- Denis Campbell

Health charities criticised the persistent lack of access to vital medications for patients in England as very worrying and warned that it could damage the health of those affected.

In 2019 the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and makers of branded medicines signed an agreement, called the voluntary scheme, to increase the number of patients able to obtain cost-effective medicines on the NHS.

It covered five key areas of disease in which receipt of drugs would result in high health gain. These were cystic fibrosis, severe asthma, stopping smoking by using the drug varenicline, hepatitis C and atrial fibrillation and thromboembolism, a heart problem. The plan was to ensure England became one of the best countries in Europe for access to relevant medications.

However, a report which NHS England commissioned - but has not published - shows that while the target has been met for cystic fibrosis and hepatitis C, it has been missed for severe asthma and smokers seeking to quit using varenicline. It compares England's progress with that in 10 other European countries, including France, Spain and Italy.