Using NICE guidance to cut costs in the downturn
Whether you are a commissioner or a provider of NHS care, or a senior officer in a local authority, you will be finding that financial pressures and affordability are becoming an increasingly important part of the decisions you make. These are challenging times for the NHS and the wider healthcare community, but following NICE guidance can ensure that organisations deliver quality care for patients, and show service providers how they can best spend their limited resources.
NICE has always been focused on providing guidance on the most effective way to use NHS resources. We are committed to supporting PCTs and NHS providers, local authorities and organisations in the wider public and voluntary sector to make the best use of their money, setting out the case for investment and disinvestment through our guidance programmes.
From identifying specific recommendations that can save money, to advice on reconfiguring to support disinvestment from clinically ineffective services, NICE has a range of products and services to help realise savings that can be reinvested into patient care.
Read on to find out more about our cost saving guidance, costing tools, recommendation reminders and commissioning guides.
Cost saving guidance
Our guidance to the NHS contains around 150 recommendations each year where we identify aspects of clinical practice that PCTs can spend less on. Our list of cost saving guidance, when implemented, will generate net cost savings. The list is based on costing work for all NICE clinical guidelines from January 2005 and technology appraisals from January 2006. Over this period we have identified over £600 million of potential savings across the NHS.
Spending to Save
Promoting good health and preventing ill health saves money. All 21 pieces of NICE’s public health guidance on topics including physical activity and children, mental well being and older people, and school based interventions on alcohol have proven to be cost effective. Increased investment in public health is key to increasing efficiency in the health service. A small shift in resource towards public health prevention activity would offer significant short, medium and long term savings to the service and to the taxpayer. Coming soon: a summary of how NICE public health interventions and programmes can mean real savings.
Nice has launched a new programme designed to help the NHS adopt innovative and cost-effective medical devices and diagnostics. The Evaluation Pathway Programme for Medical Technologies will help enable new medical technologies, or important modifications of existing ones, to be used more quickly and consistently in the NHS. Learn more about the new medical technologies programme.
Costing tools
We provide a range of costing tools that can be used, for example, to estimate the local cost of implementing guidance. These allow individual NHS organisations and local health economies to quickly assess the impact guidance will have on local budgets. Our forward planner can assist with horizon scanning and includes estimates of cost.
Recommendation reminders
Our recommendation reminders, or optimal practice reviews, are issued to help the NHS reduce ineffective practice. We have gone through our guidance and highlighted where we have recommended ceasing practice which is ineffective. Providers only need to carry out simple audits to realise potentially large cost savings in service delivery, at the same time making certain that best clinical practice is being followed.
Commissioning guides
Our topic specific commissioning guides are complemented by a series of ‘how to’ guides offering advice and support on implementing NICE guidance in the NHS and local authorities. How to use NICE guidance to commission high quality services is a new handbook that will support commissioners in using NICE guidance. It will be launched at the NICE conference in December.
Quality and productivity
On 25th September 2009 a workshop was held to explore how NICE could help the NHS face financial challenges. NICE’s Board and Senior management team is considering the proposals put forward by NHS commissioners and providers.