Pressure on for Scots NHS top-ups

HEALTH Secretary Nicola Sturgeon was last night under pressure to allow NHS patients to pay for some of their drugs privately after it emerged the move will go ahead south of the border.

Her Westminster counterpart, Health Secretary Alan Johnson, is expected to announce within the next fortnight that top-up payments will be allowed in England.

The move largely affects cancer patients who want expensive new life-prolonging 'wonderdrugs' that are not approved by NHS watchdogs because they are not considered cost-effective.

Johnson said yesterday he wants a "fair system that does not deny people essential treatment unduly".

At present, patients who want unapproved drugs, which can cost tens of thousands of pounds and may extend life by a few weeks or months, may have to pay for their entire treatment unless their health board makes a special exception for them.

Sturgeon recently announced a review of co-payments after a Scottish Parliament petition by a dying cancer patient, Michael Gray, who was forced to pay for his whole treatment privately in order to receive a new bowel cancer drug.

Critics argue that the move will create a two-tier system of medical care.