Citizens Council
In 2002 NICE established the UK's first advisory body made up entirely of members of the public. Since then the Citizens Council has produced a range of reports on challenging issues facing NICE, including when it might be appropriate to depart from the threshold, rule of rescue, and patient safety.
What is the Citizens Council?
The Citizens Council is a board of 30 ordinary members of the public, representing the UK. Members meet twice a year for three days at a time. See the list of current Citizens Council members.
The Citizens Council programme is supported by NICE's Research and Development team. Read further information about the team´s work.
What does it do?
The council provides NICE with advice that reflects the public's perspective on what are often challenging issues faced by NICE. The council is responsible for ensuring the views of the public underpin the thoughts and processes of NICE. Councillors evaluate the social and moral issues raised by NICE guidelines. During their meetings, they listen to different views on a topic, and then outline their conclusions in a report to NICE. Councillors serve for three years.
Why is important?
The Citizens Council was established to ensure that the views of those who fund the NHS - the public - are incorporated into the decision-making process.
NICE guidelines often raise difficult and challenging social issues, and the council is responsible for ensuring these issues are discussed and brought to the attention of NICE. For example, should NICE put more importance on a year of extra life for children, compared to their parents or grandparents?
How does it work?
The council has so far produced 13 reports. The topics are diverse - from health inequalities to patient safety. In the health inequalities report, the council were asked to debate whether NICE should focus on improving the health of the majority of the population, thus increasing the gap between socio-economic groups, or whether they should focus instead on the poor health of minority groups. After listening to the views and assessing all the evidence, the group decided that healthcare should go to those whose needs are greatest, irrespective of their socio-economic group.
How are its views incorporated into NICE guidelines?
The council presents a report to the board of NICE, who issue a formal response explaining their reaction to the recommendation, and how they will act that on the findings.
The council's recommendations and conclusions have been incorporated into a document called Social Value Judgements which describes the principles that NICE and its advisory bodies should use when making decisions about the clinical and cost effectiveness of interventions.
This page was last updated: 22 December 2010
