UK govt and ABPI agree experience sharing rules

11 February 2008

The UK's Minister of State for Public Health, Dawn Primarolo, has announced new guidance from the Department of Health to National Health Service Primary Care Trusts to encourage joint action with the drug industry for the improvement of patient care. The move comes as there is greater recognition by the public sector that drugmakers have developed experience in certain diseases which can be used by clinicians to improve diagnosis and treatment.

Already, the East Lincolnshire PCT has formed an alliance with three pharmaceutical companies to improve the identification of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, provide specialist training in patient management and establish specific COPD clinics. The NHS unit claimed a 23% reduction in emergency hospital admissions for the condition versus a less than 10% drop in neighboring PCT areas. Over a third of patients (78 from 215) in the pilot scheme experienced acute COPD episodes that were managed at home with only one requiring a hospital admission.

Ms Primarolo said: "we know that joint working between the NHS and [the] pharmaceutical industry can bring real benefits to patients so we want the NHS to work with them more to improve patient care."

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free.  A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Login to your account

Become a subscriber

 

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now
  • Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
  • Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
  • Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
  • Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
  • Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription
The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK





Today's issue

Company Spotlight