The Citizens Council is a panel of 30 members of the public that largely reflect the demographic characteristics of the UK. Councillors are recruited by an independent organisation and serve for up to three years.
Citizens Council reports
Following each meeting the Council submits a report to NICE's Board that may be used to inform the Institute's work
-
Using anonymised data derived from personal care records: Report 18
What ethical and practical issues need to be considered in the use of anonymised information derived from personal care records as part of the evaluation of treatments and delivery of care?
PDF 6 Mb -
Trade-offs between equity and efficiency: Report 17
What are the societal values that need to be considered when making decisions about trade-offs between equity and efficiency?
PDF 5 Mb -
Social care values: Report 16
What aspects of benefit, cost and need should NICE take into account when developing social care guidelines?
PDF 16 Mb -
Discounting: Report 15
How should NICE assess future costs and health benefits?
PDF 1.4 Mb -
Incentives: Report 14
In what circumstances are incentives to promote individual behaviour change an acceptable way of promoting the health of the public?
PDF 0.4 Mb -
Smoking and harm reduction: Report 13
NICE's Citizens Council met to discuss smoking and harm reduction
PDF 0.3 Mb -
Innovation: Report 12
NICE's Citizens Council met to discuss innovation in health care.
PDF 0.3 Mb -
Departing from the threshold: Report 11
In what circumstances should NICE recommend interventions where the cost per QALY is above the threshold range of £20-30,000?
PDF 0.2 Mb -
Quality adjusted life years (QALYs) and severity of illness: Report 10
Should NICE and its advisory bodies take into account the severity of a disease when making decisions?
PDF 0.2 Mb -
Patient safety: Report 9
How should solutions be developed to reduce or prevent harm to patients while under the care of the NHS?
PDF 0.2 Mb -
"Only In Research": Report 8
In what circumstances is it justified for NICE to recommend that an intervention is used only in the context of research?
PDF 0.2 Mb -
Health inequalities: Report 7
Which of two broad health inequality strategies would be more appropriate for NICE to follow?
PDF 0.2 Mb -
Rule of rescue: Report 6
Is there a preference to save the life of people in imminent danger of dying?
PDF 0.3 Mb -
Mandatory public health measures: Report 5
NICE's Citizens Council were asked to suggest principles that should govern the imposition of public health measures on the UK population.
PDF 0.6 Mb -
Ultra orphan drugs: Report 4
NICE's Citizens Council were asked to advise on whether or not the NHS should be prepared to pay premium prices for drugs to treat patients with very rare diseases.
PDF 0.6 Mb -
Confidential enquiries: Report 3
Are there circumstances in which the age of a person should be taken into account when NICE is making a decision about how treatments should be used in the NHS?
PDF 0.3 Mb -
Age: Report 2
Are there circumstances in which the age of a person should be taken into account when NICE is making a decision about how treatments should be used in the NHS?
PDF 0.2 Mb -
Clinical need: Report 1
What should NICE take into account when making decisions about clinical need?
PDF 0.6 Mb
What is the role of the Citizens Council?
The Citizens Council provides NICE with a public perspective on overarching moral and ethical issues that NICE has to take account of when producing guidance. The Council's recommendations and conclusions are incorporated into a document called Social value judgements and, where appropriate, into NICE's methodology.
The Citizens Council does not produce NICE's guidance (such as for health, local government or social care services), nor does it input directly into any individual pieces of guidance that NICE produces. There are other mechanisms NICE uses for doing this.
How does the Council operate?
Members meet once a year for 2 days at a time and their discussions are arranged and run by independent facilitators. The meetings are open to public observers. During the meetings, Council members listen to different views from experts on a topic and undertake exercises which allow them to examine the issues in detail and thoroughly discuss their own views. The members' views and conclusions are captured by an independent rapporteur and the report is circulated to members for comment and amendment before finalising. After a meeting, the report is made available for public comment. A summary of these comments along with the report are then presented to NICE's board for discussion.
How are the topics chosen?
Potential topics usually arise as a result of the activities of NICE's advisory bodies during the guidance development process as they explore issues that require value judgements to be made.