History of NICE

  • 1999

    Creation of NICE

    The National Institute for Clinical Excellence became a legal entity in April. Our aim was to create consistent guidelines and end rationing of treatment by postcode across the UK.

    Find out more about us

    First NICE guidance

    We published our first piece of guidance: a rapid assessment of flu product zanamivir.

    First public board meeting

    Register to attend a public board meeting.

  • 2000

    First technology appraisal

    TA1 Guidance on the extraction of wisdom teeth (March).

    Read more about technology appraisals

  • 2001

    National Collaborating Centres established

    The National Collaborating Centres help develop clinical guidelines by using the expertise of the royal medical colleges, professional bodies and patient/carer organisations.

  • 2002

    First clinical guideline

    CG1 Schizophrenia (December).

    Read more about guidelines

    The National Guidelines and Audit Patient Involvement Unit established

    It later became our Public Involvement Programme (PIP).

  • 2003

    First interventional procedures guidance

    IPG1 Uterine artery embolisation for fibroids (July).

    Read more about interventional procedures

  • 2005

    The Health Development Agency (HDA) transfers to NICE

    The HDA was a special health authority established in 2000 to develop the evidence base to improve health and reduce health inequalities.
    It worked in partnership with professionals and practitioners across a range of sectors to translate that evidence into practice.
    Health Development Agency publications can be found on the British Library Web Archive.

    We changed our name to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.

  • 2006

    First public health guideline

    PH1 Smoking: brief interventions and referrals (March).

    Read more about guidelines

    First single technology appraisal

    We published our first single technology appraisal to speed up the guidance production process.

  • 2008

    First public meeting

    The Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee held its first meeting in public in June.

    Find out more about our meetings in public and register to attend.

  • 2009

    Quality Outcomes Framework

    We became responsible for developing and reviewing indicators for the Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF).

  • 2010

    First quality standard

    QS1 Dementia: support in health and social care (March).

    Read more about quality standards

    First medical technology guidance

    MTG1 SeQuent Please balloon catheter for in-stent coronary restenosis (December).

    Read more about medical technologies

  • 2011

    Commissioning indicators

    We were asked to develop indicators on behalf of the NHS Commissioning Board for the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicator Set (CCG OIS).

    National Prescribing Centre (NPC) joins NICE

    The NPC became part of NICE in April. The centre helped healthcare organisations to deliver safe and cost-effective medicines use for patients and the public. It later became the Medicines and Prescribing Centre.

    NICE Pathways goes live

    In May we launched an online tool providing quick and easy access, topic by topic, to our full range of guidance and tools.

    First diagnostics guidance

    DG1 The EOS 2D/3D imaging system (October).

    About diagnostics

  • 2013

    NICE becomes a non-departmental public body

    In April we changed our status from a special health authority to a non-departmental public body and became the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. We also officially took on the work of bringing evidence-based guidance and standards to the social care sector, as outlined in the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

    New Chair appointed

    We welcomed a new Chair, Professor David Haslam, who took over from Professor Sir Michael Rawlins following his 14 years in the role.

    The NHS Technology Adoption Centre joins NICE

    The adoption team is responsible for identifying ways to overcome potential barriers to the implementation of NICE guidance.

  • 2014

    First social care guideline

    SC1 Managing medicines in care homes (March).

    First medicines practice guideline

    MPG1 Developing and updating local formularies (March).

    Read more about guidelines

  • 2015

    First highly specialised technologies guidance

    HST1 Eculizumab for treating atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (January).

    About highly specialised technologies

  • 2016

    First drug approved from old Cancer Drugs Fund

    In July we approved bosutinib (Bosulif, Pfizer) which treats some people with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). It means the drug will become available through normal NHS funding channels where as previously it was only available through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

    Unified indicator menu launched

    We launched the unified NICE indicator menu for general practice and CCGs.

  • 2017

    Antimicrobial resistance

    We published a guideline to educate the general public about how they can help fight the battle against antimicrobial resistance.

    We also started a series of 30 management of common infection guidelines. Find out more on our antimicrobial prescribing guidelines page.

    Physical and mental health in the workplace

    In March we updated our quality standard promoting physical and mental health in the workplace.

  • 2018

    500 technology appraisals

    In January, we published our 500th technology appraisal.

    Cancer impact report published

    We published NICEimpact cancer. A report that considers how our evidence-based guidance might contribute to improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. It’s the first of several impact reports looking at how the health and social care system uses our recommendations to improve outcomes in priority areas.

  • 2019

    We celebrate our 20th birthday

    On 1 April, we marked 20 years of improving health and social care through evidence-based guidance.

  • 2021

    The NICE 5-year strategy launches

    Dynamic, collaborative, excellent - the NICE strategy 2021 to 2026 set out an ambitious vision for our future, building on the solid foundations of the last 22 years.