The changes will come into effect early next month for new evaluations and will give patients earlier access to innovative new treatments by allowing greater flexibility over decisions about value for money and consideration of a broader evidence base.
They cover how topics are chosen (topic selection), the steps and stages in each evaluation (processes), and how evidence is collected and considered (methods).
With extensive involvement from health system partners, industry, healthcare professionals, academia and patients, the changes signal how NICE is evolving alongside technological advances in healthcare and evidence to continue to deliver excellence for patients, the NHS and the life sciences industry.
Professor Gillian Leng CBE, NICE chief executive, said: “Our vision at NICE is to be at the forefront of delivering access for patients in the NHS to valuable, evidence-based innovative medicines, medical devices and diagnostics. The changes that we are making will provide a robust foundation for our evaluations now and in the future and enable us to continue to lead the way in rapid, independent health technology assessments.
“But they are not the end of the story. In the short term, we will explore the impacts and benefits of the updated methods and processes. We need to ensure they are effectively implemented in order to realise the benefits for NICE, the NHS and the wider stakeholder community, as well as supporting the Government’s wider vision for life sciences.
“Going forward, NICE will adopt a more modular approach to updates to its methods and processes. This will enable us to be more agile and responsive, monitoring, reviewing and improving our methods and processes into the future, making sure they remain cutting edge as the healthcare landscape continues to evolve.”
Key changes being implemented are:
Helen Knight, programme director in the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation at NICE, said: “We’ve engaged extensively with our stakeholders throughout this process and we’ve listened to their concerns and taken on board many of their suggestions. I would like to thank all those organisations and individuals who have so generously given their time to help us deliver a blueprint for health technology evaluation that is truly collaborative and one which signals our commitment to making the journey for promising new health technologies even faster, and patient access fairer.”
