The Commercial Medicines Access Team (CMAT) is a collaborative multi-organisational team comprised of colleagues from the All Wales Therapeutics and Toxicology Centre (AWTTC), NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP) and the National Procurement Lead Pharmacist for Wales.
The role and responsibility of the CMAT is to support and monitor the implementation of AWMSG and NICE recommended medicines associated with a commercial arrangement within NHS Wales. A commercial arrangement improves the cost-effectiveness of a medicine; it can be a Patient Access Scheme (PAS) or a Commercial Access Agreement (CAA). This underpins the essence of A Healthier Wales, allowing patients to have timely access to medicines, while also ensuring that the NHS in Wales obtains the maximum possible value for money where medicines are concerned.
The CMAT works with pharmaceutical companies to facilitate the availability of a commercial arrangement for both hospital and community provided medicines where appropriate, which helps to enable medicine accessibility closer to home. This also supports the transformation of services from hospital into local communities, with medicines being supplied through community pharmacy, or a third-party homecare service, in a safe way that meets patients’ needs.
Early company engagement with CMAT to discuss and agree a commercial arrangement for a recommended medicine is vital to support timely access to medicines for patients in Wales. Whether it is from the date of the Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) published by NICE or the Final Appraisal Recommendation (FAR) published by AWMSG, CMAT is committed in supporting the health boards and trust to provide access to such recommended medicines within 60 days by facilitating agreement of the All Wales associated commercial arrangement as soon as possible.
For any questions, queries or early engagement please contact the CMAT team via the following email address: NHSWales.CA@wales.nhs.uk