Access to treatment
The Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) is a way of funding cancer medicines in England. This is before the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) approve this treatment for use in the NHS.
In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland there are different ways to access new medicines.
You can see information about what medicines are on the CDF list and when they might be used. This might be:
for a certain type of cancer
for a certain stage
only in advanced cancer
only if they have tried other treatments first
Look at the latest drugs fund list on the NHS England website
The Cancer Drugs Fund is only available for patients in England. You have to be entitled to routine NHS care in England. You also have to be registered with a GP in England.
Access to new medicines is different in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In Scotland, there is the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC). It aims to make sure that people have the same access to treatment wherever they live in Scotland.
Scotland has its own 'new medicines fund'. This fund pays for some medicines for patients with rare or end-of-life conditions.
The All Wales Medicines Strategy Group (AWMSG) makes some decisions for the NHS in Wales. Generally, it follows NICE decisions.
The Welsh Government has the 'new treatment fund’ for Wales. This aims to speed up patient access to new treatments.
Visit the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group (AWMSG) website
Health and Social Care Services in Northern Ireland follows NICE cancer drug fund decisions.
Last reviewed: 03 Jan 2024
Next review due: 04 Jan 2027
Search for the cancer type you want to find out about.
Sometimes there are treatments which aren’t available on the NHS. There are other ways you might be able to access a treatment that isn’t available on the NHS.
Drugs go through a review process. This ensures they're safe, effective, and that the benefits outweigh possible side effects.
Once a medicine has a licence, organisations will decide if it should be available as part of free healthcare.
There are several decisions to be made about a cancer treatment before you can have it on the NHS or HSC.
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