Patient Access Schemes (PAS) are arrangements which may be used on an exceptional basis for the acquisition of medicines for the NHS in Wales and England. PAS propose a discount, rebate or other variation from the list price of a medicine that may be linked to the number, type or response of patients, or the collection of new evidence (outcomes).
These schemes aim to improve the cost-effectiveness of a medicine and therefore allow the All Wales Medicine Strategy Group (AWMSG) to recommend treatments that it might otherwise have found not to be cost effective.
Wales Patient Access Schemes (WPAS) are proposed by a pharmaceutical company and agreed with Welsh Government, with input from the Patient Access Schemes Wales Group (PASWG) within AWMSG's health technology assessment (HTA) process.
A list of technologies with an approved WPAS or PAS recommended by AWMSG for use in NHS Wales can be viewed from the Medicines appraisals page: click on the 'advanced search' button and select the appropriate 'commercial arrangement' option.