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  • Question on Document

    Do you agree NICE should focus on guidance production and maintenance on priority areas (section 5) and these should be reviewed periodically to ensure NICE is supporting what the health and care system needs? If you disagree, please give reason and rationale.

  • Question on Document

    Do you agree that NICE should be transparent about its remit (section 3.12, section 6.1.1 and 6.2)? If you disagree, please give reason and rationale.

  • Question on Document

    Do you think the new process and consideration factors for NICE to propose topics to the Secretary of State for NHAP are robust and transparent (section 4 and Annex A)? If you disagree, please give reason and rationale. Are there any other factors NICE should include to consider?

  • Question on Document

    Do you think the new merged single-stage prioritisation framework is more streamlined and efficient for topic selection? If you disagree, please give reason and rationale.

NICE-wide topic prioritisation: the manual

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We have updated this service so that members of the same organisation can now collaborate on a joint online response.

Read our blog to learn more.

1 Our transformation

NICE's purpose is to help practitioners and commissioners get the best care to people fast, while ensuring value for the taxpayer. We have achieved this since 1999, delivering a huge body of guidance, grounded in the principles of independence, transparency and rigour. These are principles that are globally respected and will never be compromised.

However, the health and care system has changed rapidly since our inception, so we too must evolve. Our principles and fundamental priorities remain the same. But we are evolving to meet the changing needs of our users, increasing our focus on the relevance, timeliness, usability, affordability and demonstrable impact of our products.

As part of this transformation and to support NICE's strategic objective to focus on what matters most, we implemented an organisation-wide approach to topic prioritisation in May 2024. This is overseen by a single prioritisation board that guides the selection and coordination of our guidance development.

This manual sets out the process for how new guidance topics and updates to existing NICE guidance are identified, prioritised and routed at NICE, and the decision-making framework used by the NICE prioritisation board. It replaces the manual on NICE health technology evaluation topic selection, and section 1.4 of the manual on developing NICE guidelines. With the launch of the 10 Year Health Plan in 2025, which establishes NICE at the centre of NHS recovery, we have updated this manual to ensure that NICE is prioritising topics to reflect the latest system priorities and needs.

To complement and assist the prioritisation of topics related to public health, social care and rare diseases, the NICE prioritisation board also uses NICE's strategic principles for the prioritisation of public health, social care and rare diseases. These principles guide the application of the prioritisation framework in these areas.