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Thousands of patients could be denied life-extending drugs and treatment in the wake of Brexit , the Sunday People reports.

NHS bosses have delayed funding for vital medicines and services because the fall in the value of the pound means they may no longer be able to afford them.

And kidney patient Abi Longfellow, the teenager who won her battle for a wonder drug thanks to a Sunday People campaign, is one of those hit by the devastating blow.

The cost of Abi’s drug went up by £16,000 overnight due to Brexit . When the NHS first agreed to buy the drug form the US it cost £136,000.

But the price has now shot up to £152,000 because the pound has slumped against the dollar.

The delays also hit cancer patients, children with gender issues, HIV patients and stroke victims.

Abi, 13, has already faced a string of agonising delays despite outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron ordering a rapid review into her case last year.

(Image: nbpress ltd)

On Sunday her her mum Jo said: “I’m veering between tears and anger.

“I just don’t know what to say. How can an organisation as big as the NHS not have made contingency plans for something as huge as Brexit ?

"If a private company behaved this way someone’s head would be on the chopping block.”

Distressed Abi said: “I just want the delays to stop. I want to have a transplant and lead a normal life which doesn’t involve my mum and dad constantly fighting for me.”

Decisions on expensive procedures such as robotic surgery for kidney and bladders cancers, intense radiotherapy for tumours and proton beam therapy for prostate cancer are also postponed.

Abi’s family expected news on Friday that NHS commissioning bosses had rubber-stamped her use of the drug Eculizumab, which will give the teenager a real chance of life after a kidney transplant.

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Instead, they were sent an email from a communications officer which read: “I understand (the delay) is because our finance team need more time to check that the costings we have based our prioritisation decisions on are all still correct post Brexit and the changes in the value of Sterling.

“The NHS buys some of the drugs it uses in euros and dollars as many of the big pharmacetical companies are not UK based.”

Schoolgirl Abi suffers from a rare kidney disease which will kill her before her 18th birthday unless she has a transplant.

But a cruel loophole in drug-funding policy meant she was denied £136,000-a-year Eculizumab, which will enhance her chances of survival after surgery.

Sunday People readers backed a #SaveAbi campaign in their thousands and David Cameron ordered a review of her case.

(Image: PA)

Three months ago Abi, of Wakefield, West Yorks, who spends 11 hours a day on a dialysis machine, was finally told she would get the drug, but that the cost would need to be given final approval.

But on Friday the specialised services commissioning committee of NHS England said it was unable to give the final go-ahead because of the fall of the pound. It buys in drugs from around the world.

Jo, 45, said: “It’s beyond frustrating.

“The night before the meeting we couldn’t sleep, we couldn’t eat, we were just so nervous waiting for news, just to be let down again.

“It’s not just us. Thousands of families will be sitting waiting the outcome decisions on their drugs and treatments too. One of the first things Abi said was ‘what about the other patients?’”

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Abi faced a further setback last month when it was revealed her dad Andy, 46, was no longer a match for her kidney transplant.

Her dad Andy was through thought to be the perfect match until new technology revealed Abi could have rejected the organ.

The NHS decision to delay affects a raft of medicines and services.

Children with gender dysphoria - who believe they were born the wrong sex - will have to wait to find out if they are entitled to cross-sex hormones when they reach 15.

HIV patients will have to bide their time to find out if they are entitled to a drug called Tenefovir Alafenamide, which can stop the disease from multiplying in the body.

Youngsters with the sleep condition narcolepsy also face a postponement on being administered sodium oxybate, which can ease symptoms.

And patients suffering from a rare autoimmune disease called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which causes brain inflammation, also face a delay.

Decisions on funding for robotic surgery, targeted radiotherapy for renal, spinal and pelvic cancer and medication for a rare condition called Takayasu arteritis, which causes swelling of the blood vessels, are also under consideration.

Other treatments such as brain stimulation to ease pain for stroke victims and proton beam therapy for localised prostate cancer have also been hit, although in these cases the NHS has already advised the commissioning board they are not financially viable.

Also affected are improved services for sufferers of penile cancer, paediatric multiple sclerosis, rare neurological conditions in children and better assessments for heart and lung transplant patients.