Ending the postcode lottery for NHS treatment

Edinburgh West MP Christine Jardine has urged for the end of postcode lottery brain tumour treatment which sees patients missing out on taking medication which could prolong their lives based entirely on where they live.

There is a new, highly promising treatments which is currently available to eligible patients through a Named Patient Programme, where it is being administered free of charge in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and NHS Tayside only.

In a House of Commons debate on the research and treatment of brain tumours, Christine said:

 “I wish there was no need for us to have this debate, but sadly there is.

 “It seems the cruellest of things for there to be a drug available, developed partly in his own city, yet he cannot have it.

 “I understand the pressures on finances, on resources, but that does not mean, and cannot mean, the limit on our ambition for what we can do for those who are suffering.

 “We are talking about saving money when we should be talking about saving lives.