Review into private drug patients

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Professor Mike Richards, the Government's national cancer director, will publish a report on the issue in October.

Mr Johnson said NHS policy on the matter had remained the same for the last 20 years.

Tuesday's announcement comes despite repeated denials from officials at the Department of Health and Downing Street in recent days that the policy review was in the pipeline.

Conservative MP John Baron (Billericay) has been pursuing the issue in the House of Commons after the death of one of his constituents.

Linda O'Boyle, 64, died earlier this year after being refused bowel cancer treatment. She had paid £11,000 for an eight-week course of the drug Cetuximab.

Current Government policy is that patients who pay privately for a course of treatment cannot then ask the NHS to provide usual care or administer the drugs.

Mr Baron told MPs the current policy banning co-payments was "cruel as it takes care away from patients who were dying".

He said co-payments exist in other parts of the NHS, such as in dentistry.

Mr Johnson said: "I'm asking Mike Richards to look at the very complex issues here, I'm not saying that he comes down one way or the other. I'm saying he needs to review this issue given the need that honourable members on all sides of the House understand, to protect the principles of the NHS being free at the point of need, and the very understandable concerns of Mrs O'Boyle and many other people involved to ensure we get guidance that is up to-date and related to what is happening now in the NHS that is fair to everyone."