Challenging PCT Decisions
Being told that you or a loved one is facing a serious illness is heart breaking, but it is all the more upsetting when your doctor tells you that there is a drug or treatment which can help you but that you are not able to access because of the Primary Care Trust’s (PCT’s) policy. It’s even more difficult to understand when the same treatment may be available just a few miles away in the next PCT. This is often referred to as the ‘post code lottery’.
There are currently 151 PCT’s in England, each has its own set of rules that dictate which drugs and treatments are allowed to be funded and who is able to have them.
If, under the PCT’s policy, you would not normally be allowed the treatment but your clinical team think that you are ‘exceptional’, for example, you might not be able to take the normal treatment or your doctor thinks that you would benefit from the treatment more than the average person, then your case will be considered by a special commission panel at the PCT.
Sometimes this commissioning panel makes mistakes or misinterprets its own rules, which means that funding for the drug or treatment is still rejected. That’s where we may be able to help you get the treatment you need.
At Lewis Hymanson Small Solicitors LLP we specialise in this niche area of law. Oliver Wright, a solicitor at Lewis Hymanson Small Solicitors LLP, is widely regarded as an expert in bringing Healthcare Judicial Review claims against PCTs on behalf of patients.
We are able to offer you expert and decisive advice on challenging the PCT. We know that time is often against you and you only have three months to challenge the PCT’s decision so it’s vital that you instruct a firm which can quickly review your case and has a large network of medical and legal experts who are used to dealing with this type of situation.
There are a number of methods of funding your challenge against the PCT and we can discuss the appropriate method with you.