Paying for your own drugs or treatment

Cancer treatments can cost thousands of pounds so this would be a serious decision and one to discuss with your doctor, family and friends. Your doctor still needs to agree to prescribe the medicine or treatment.

Agreeing to pay for your treatment privately only applies to one medical condition. If you have private cancer treatment and then develop a totally different condition, you could have it treated on the NHS or privately.

Private health insurance is also an option, but only if you have a pre-existing policy. Some policies don't include certain treatments for cancer or may not fund more than one course of this type of treatment. Your insurer will be able to give you more detailed information based on your individual situation.

Co-payment (or top-up payments)

Co-payment is when a patient having NHS treatment pays privately to have a drug that isn't available to them on the NHS. People can do this by paying for it themselves or through an existing insurance policy. Some insurance companies have policies to fund drugs that are given alongside another treatment but aren't available on the NHS.

The Department of Health's current guidance to PCTs in England is that patients can pay to have drugs not available in the NHS while continuing with their NHS treatment. The NHS care and the privately funded care must be given separately. You can download Guidance on NHS patients who wish to pay for additional private care from the Department of Health|'s website.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the situation on co-payment is much the same as in England. Wales is expected to adopt similar guidance.

As well as paying for the cost of the drugs given outside the NHS, you'll also have to pay for the costs related to giving these drugs. This includes staff time and any tests and scans associated with the extra care.

The Department of Health recommend people using co-payment are given the drug or treatment in a different area to where NHS treatment is given. This could be at another hospital or in a private area in a ward or clinic at their usual hospital.

Co-payment should only be used when other means of getting a drug on the NHS, such as IFRs, have been looked at.

There may be variations on how co-payment is dealt with across the UK. Talk to your specialist to find out how  co-payment is dealt with in your PCT or health board.