PRESS RELEASE

NICE responds to Select Committee Report

03 July 2002

NICE welcomes the report of the Health Committee into its first 3 years of work and is grateful for the thoroughness with which it has been undertaken.

The Institute's chairman, Professor Sir Michael Rawlins said, "This is an important and positive report and we are pleased that the committee has recognised our challenging remit and the progress we have made so far in developing clinical standards for the NHS. The report also makes proposals about the way in which NICE approaches its work and many of these reflect suggestions that the Institute itself made to the Committee in its written and oral evidence."

He continued, "There is much to consider and we want to make sure that we look at the detail of the Committee's recommendations. Therefore we shall discuss the report with our Partners Council and at the Institute's Annual General Meeting on 17 July. A more detailed response to the Committee's recommendations will be agreed at our Board meeting in September. As with all NICE Board meetings both will be held in public."

Ends


Notes for editors:
Select Committee

1. The Select Committee issued a press release and published the conclusion of their Inquiry into the work of NICE on 3 July 2002. http://www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/hlthpnot.htm
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm/cmhealth.htm
2. NICE was pleased to support the Committee in its work and in addition to written submissions (published at http://www.nice.org.uk/cat.asp?c=27660). Professor Sir Michael Rawlins (Chair), Andrew Dillon (Chief Executive) and Professor David Barnett (Chair Independent Appraisals Committee) gave evidence to the committee on behalf of NICE on Wednesday 30 January 2002.

3. The Annual General Meeting is a meeting of the Board. It will be held at 2pm on 17 July 2002 at the Commonwealth Institute in London, in public.

4. The September meeting of the Board will be at 2pm on the 18 September at the Thistle Hotel Queen Street, Exeter, EX4 3SP, again this is a public meeting.

Background: NICE

5. Copies of all NICE publications and Consultation documents are available from the NICE web site (www.nice.org.uk)

6. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is part of the NHS and is a special health authority. NICE provides guidance for healthcare professionals, and patients and their carers, that helps to inform decisions about treatment and healthcare. NICE guidance recommendations are prepared by independent teams of 'experts', who include healthcare professionals working in the NHS and lay people who are familiar with the issues affecting patients and carers.

Currently NICE produces guidance on:

  • the use of new and existing health technologies, such as medicines, medical devices and procedures (this type of guidance is referred to as technology appraisal guidance)
  • the management and care of specific conditions (these are our clinical guidelines)
  • the use of new surgical procedures (this guidance comes from our interventional procedures work programme).

    NICE also produce information on the lessons learnt following investigations of deaths and serious incidents in specific clinical circumstances (the confidential enquiries).

    Professional and patient/carer groups whose members are likely to be affected by NICE guidance are involved throughout, they can submit evidence and comment on the recommendations before they are finalised. Individuals can also comment on provisional appraisal recommendations during public consultation periods, when provisional guidance is posted on the nice website.

    7. NICE was established to

  • encourage faster uptake of clinically & cost effective new treatments,
  • promote more equitable access to treatments (new or existing) of proven clinical and cost effectiveness promote the better use of resources in the NHS, by focussing resources on treatments which achieve most health gain in relation to the NHS/PSS resources expended promote the longer-term interest of the NHS in the development of innovative treatments for the future.

    8. To date NICE has issued 44 technology appraisal guidance, on 164 researchable topics. It is estimated that they will result in an increased NHS spend of over £550 million and improved care for millions of people

  • 13 have recommended routine use of the technology
  • 27 have recommended selective use of the technology
  • 4 have recommended research use only

    9. NICE has have also published 6 clinical guidelines on topics such as induction of labour and eye care for people with type 2 diabetes