Equitable access to medicines and vaccines essential for patient safety and outcomes, says ABPI

The Dash Review has warned that poor or inconsistent access to appropriate treatment is a patient safety issue.

The newly published ‘Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape’ found that effective care must meet clear, evidence-based standards and reach all the people who need it. Care that fails to meet these standards results in avoidable harm and should not be acceptable.

The Review highlights the following statistics: [1]

·       99.8% of cases of cervical cancer are preventable through HPV vaccination, but uptake of the vaccine varies from 73.6% to just 51.3% in the most deprived decile. [2]

·       4.4million people have diabetes, but less than two-thirds receive recognised best-practice care. In the worst-performing GP practice, the figure was under 2 per cent. [3]

·       There are over 6.4 million people living with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in England, contributing to over 140,000 deaths per year. An estimated 30% of adults have high blood pressure, and most are not receiving effective treatment. Around 50% of heart attacks and strokes are associated with high blood pressure. [4]

·       There are 2.7 million people living with chronic kidney disease in England, contributing to an associated 40,000 to 45,000 premature deaths per year. Of these, 21% remain undiagnosed and 27% of patients with chronic kidney disease at stages 3 to 5 are not optimally treated. This led to 29,580 patients being put on dialysis and over 3,000 patients receiving a kidney transplant in 2021. [5]

Dr Amit Aggarwal, Medical Director at the ABPI, said: “This report shows how inconsistent access to proven, cost-effective medicines and vaccines contributes to poor patient outcomes. It lays bare why fixing these inequalities and gaps in care provision must be central to efforts to improve patient safety. Using approved medicines and vaccines according to the recommendations set out by NICE and other regulators is central to addressing these issues.  

“As the recommendations are brought in, it will also remain important to make sure that patients still have strong advocates for safety. The Patient Safety Commissioner has done a great job, and this must not be lost when their functions are incorporated into the MHRA and Department of Health.”

Ends

Notes to Editors
[1] All statistics taken from the Dash Review, available here. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-patient-safety-across-the-health-and-care-landscape Original sources for individual statistics as listed in the Review are also below.

[2] DHSC. Fingertips - Public health profiles - Population vaccination coverage: HPV vaccination coverage for two doses (13 to 14 years old) (Female). 2023.

[3] NHS England. National Diabetes Audit Core Report 1: Care Processes and Treatment Targets 2023-24, Underlying data. 2024. See: ‘Type 1 registrations’ tab of ‘National Diabetes Audit 2023-24 Data Release, England’ spreadsheet.

[4] British Heart Foundation. Heart statistics - Key statistics factsheets. See ‘BHF Statistics Factsheet - England’ (PDF, 883KB). 2025.

[5] Carnall Farrar. ‘Value in health: improving productivity, quality and prevention in the NHS.’ 2025.