A series of NHS pilots could give patients faster access to cutting-edge medicines.

A joint taskforce of Government, the pharmaceutical industry and NHS representatives developed the pilots in a 10-week ‘sprint’ process. They are designed to speed up and improve the fairness of how new treatments reach patients.

Testing of the new approaches to medicines pricing, access and adoption will begin in September.

One pilot will look at how innovative treatments that have already met safety, quality and clinical standards can be given to eligible NHS patients more quickly.

A different pilot will trial a new approach to account for the productivity benefits of new medicines, such as recognising the value of enabling people who receive treatment to return to work.

Another will research a mechanism allowing industry to co-invest in screening, testing and the full care journey of patients, to better enable the NHS to offer innovative therapies at speed and scale as soon as they are recommended by NICE.

Further work will look at dedicated regional funding to improve patient access to priority medicines, supporting local systems to provide faster and wider uptake of transformative innovations.

The pilots support the government’s commitment to double innovative medicines spending from 0.3% to 0.6% of GDP over the next decade, to deliver faster, fairer and equitable NHS patient access to cutting-edge therapies. 

Health and Social Care Secretary, James Murray, said: "When a new medicine is proven to work, patients shouldn’t have to wait.

"These pilots are designed to give life-changing treatments to NHS patients faster and more fairly than ever before, while ensuring taxpayers continue to get value for money.

"That’s good for patients, good for the NHS, and good for Britain’s place as a world leader in life sciences."