Doctors want Avastin barriers removed

Clinical leaders from 120 Clinical Commissioning Groups, representing almost 60 per cent of all CCGs, have called on the General Medical Council, the Department of Health and NHS England to remove the current barriers to using Avastin 'off- licence' to treat wet AMD.

Supporting CCGs to be able to use Avastin could release an estimated £102m annually that the NHS could re-invest into other front line patient services, said commissioning group NHSCC.

NHSCC co-chair Dr Amanda Doyle said: ‘This is a long standing issue within the NHS and the numbers of CCGs who have united behind this shows the strength of feeling there is to ensure that we have all the available options to be able to deliver the best possible care for our patients.