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Top QC in battle on NHS postcode lottery

A leading QC whose dying sister was denied life-extending drugs is leading a campaign to help patients battle against health service drug rationing.

Barrister Peter Telford is self publishing thousands of leaflets telling patients how to take on NHS trusts which refuse to pay for the drugs their doctors recommend.

QC Mr Telford fought for his terminally ill sister Elaine when the health service refused to pay for the drugs she had been prescribed to shrink her bowel tumours.

In the 2006 case, on behalf of his sister, he was the first lawyer to successfully challenge an NHS trust when it rejected the application for the drug Avastin. Since then he has been contacted by NHS doctors and patient campaign groups and became involved in dozens of patient appeals, on a pro bono basis.

The barrister said he wrote the guide, which provides patients with step-by-step advice about how to apply for funding for rationed drugs on "exceptional grounds" because he had been inundated by requests from patients seeking his help. The barrister will write to chief executives of every primary care trust (PCT) in the country, asking them to ensure that NHS doctors can issue his guidance.

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