When the Danish Medicines Council has recommended a new medicine as standard treatment, the regions are responsible for ensuring that patients have access to the new medicine immediately after.
But how is it going in practice?
The Implementation Group under the Interregional Forum for the Coordination of Medicine has looked into the matter by collecting data from the five Danish regions.
The Group’s retrospective data collection shows that it normally takes between one and 14 days from the recommendation of a new medicine by the Danish Medicines Council to when a new medicine is available for departments. In other words, a new drug can be available within 14 days if a region wants to take the medicine into use, and if there are candidate patients for the new medicine.
“All of us working to ensure the right medicine for hospital patients are glad to know that we can get new medicines out to patients very quickly after the Danish Medicines Council's recommendations. This is very much because Denmark has a national structured set-up for the whole process of implementing new medicines,” says Flemming Sonne, CEO of Amgros.
It is a complex task. Both making sure that new medicines get out to patients at public hospitals, and replacing medicines at hospital pharmacies and on hospital shelves because other medicines have taken over.
Therefore, Denmark has established a specially structured set-up in which hospital pharmacies, pharmaceutical committees, clinical pharmacologists, economists and Amgros work very closely together. We call it the Implementation Group.
“The Implementation Group shares knowledge and experience about implementation. This means that we are all very clear about our roles and responsibilities. Ultimately, this also means that it is easier for the individual regions to manage all the practicalities behind getting new medicines out to hospital patients,” says Christine Dinsen-Andersen, chief specialist, Capital Region of Denmark Pharmacy and a member of the Danish Medicines Council.
The analysis from the Implementation Group shows that medicines recommended by the Danish Medicines Council, are available for ordering by clinics one to 14 days after a recommendation has been issued by the Danish Medicines Council. If it takes longer for a medicine to be taken into use by the regions, there is usually a very good explanation. It is because:
- there is a cheaper clinical equivalent of the medicine
- there are no candidate patients for the treatment
- the clinic has to learn how to manage the medicine
“A lot has to be in place before hospital staff can offer patients with a new medicine. It takes more than just the click of a switch after the Danish Medicines Council has recommended a new medicine as a standard treatment. But we and our patients are confident that it usually only takes between one and 14 days,” says Birgitte Klindt Poulsen, head of department at the Clinical Pharmacology Unit at Aalborg University Hospital and a member of the Danish Medicines Council.
Read the memorandum about the analysis
Read more about rapid and efficient changes of medicines here: Rapid and efficient changes of medicines - Amgros
The regions have set up the Interregional Forum for Coordination of Medicines (Forum). The purpose of Forum is to ensure that new, experimental medicines, as well as genuine new medicines are taken into use on the basis of a thorough scientific assessment of the effect of the medicines and all the current studies.
Forum is composed of representatives from the pharmaceutical committees in the regions, Danish Regions, hospital pharmacies and Amgros.
The Implementation Group is an internal working group under Forum composed of representatives from Forum, the regions and Amgros. The purpose of the Implementation Group is to ensure that implementation of the recommendations and treatment guidelines from the Danish Medicines Council are regularly discussed and assessed across the regions.
Read more here: Interregional Forum for the Coordination of Medicine (regionh.dk)
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Karen Torgny
Senior Specialist- Communication
I’m responsible for overall communication at Amgros, including PR. And I help to ensure that we communicate with the surrounding world in an open and engaging manner.