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Dear Kathleen
Anne has asked me to send you the following email.
AM/JC
1 December 2009
(Invest in ME received this reply on 27/11/2009)
Thank you very much for your letter concerning ME.
As you know, it is estimated that 250,000 people in Britain are affected by ME, and unfortunately there continues to be uncertainty about diagnosis and management, as well as clinical understanding of the disease.
We have a number of policies designed to help people with long-term conditions. For example, In November 2008, Shadow Minister for Health, Mark Simmonds, announced Conservative proposals for NICE. We believe drugs should be available faster on the NHS. For a long time we have called on NICE to conduct its assessment at the same time as the drug is licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This would speed up the decision making process – without interfering in its independent nature - as currently NICE appraises drugs only once they’ve been approved by the MHRA. We have also set out our proposals which would enable NICE to take into account wider social costs where appropriate, and develop commissioning guidelines for those with long-term conditions.
We will also enable those with a stable, predictable, long-term condition to have access to an individual budget. If someone with a long-term condition, who is living at home, is able to be assessed through a single assessment process, which incorporates both health needs and social care needs, then a ‘pooled budget’ could be determined for them. The calculation of the budget would consist of two parts: one, social care and means-tested, the other healthcare-related and free. Based on this, an individual and their carer would be given the flexibility and empowerment to choose their providers. They should be able to exercise that flexibility across the social/healthcare divide.
But giving real choice to patients, and allowing professionals to decide on the best strategies for providing healthcare, will not be possible unless they can access sophisticated data about the performance of treatments, hospitals and doctors. We are confident that the provision of high-quality information available in the public domain and presented to patients by GPs will help make providers of NHS care truly accountable to patients, and drive large gains in the standards of care provided by them. We are even more confident that, 'as information drives greater choice for patients, so patients’ experience of their healthcare will improve.
With regards to your specific questions, we are currently looking at further ways we can improve healthcare for people with long-term conditions, and your comments are extremely useful.
Best wishes,
Anne Milton MP
Shadow Minister for Health
James Clayton
Office of Anne Milton MP
MP for Guildford
Shadow Minister for Health
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
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