PATIENTS face potentially fatal delays in getting the best drugs because of government cuts, it was disclosed last night.

Almost a quarter of treatment appraisals being carried out by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence had been delayed because it has had to disband one of its key assessment committees.

Andrew Dillon, chief executive of the institute, has said that the Government had cut funds by £3.5 million and this had created a backlog in the appraisals.

Doctors can prescribe a drug when the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority has licensed it. In practice, however, NHS funding is rare without approval from the institute.

Mr Dillon said: “When it became apparent that money was not coming, the third committee became unsustainable. Not having that committee meant that we had to put back the publication date of about a dozen appraisals.”

Drugs that have been shown to improve patients’ chances of survival but have seen their approval delayed include treatments for breast, colon and head and neck cancers, it was reported last night.

The delays mean that patients in England will be denied treatment already available in Scotland and abroad.

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