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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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Update information

18 March 2026: This manual has been updated to include further details on how NICE will prioritise topics to reflect the latest system priorities and new national policies. These updates include:

  • What NICE will consider as priority areas for NICE guidance and portfolio maintenance (section 5) and be clear about which topics are outside of NICE's remit (section 3.12, section 6.1.1 and 6.2). These changes explicitly signal NICE's role in supporting key policy initiatives such as the NHS Modern Service Frameworks and Single National Formulary.

  • The introduction of flexibility in routing decisions to support the Whole Life Cycle Approach to guidance (for example section 2.4 and 3.7). For example, updates can be routed to any guidance producing programmes and combinations of more than one type of guidance.

  • The consideration factors for proposing HealthTech topics using NICE technology appraisal methods and process (the National HealthTech Access Programme) (Annex A). And the selection proposals are made by the NICE prioritisation board (section 4).

  • When the NICE prioritisation board will further prioritise the re-evaluation of early-use HealthTech guidance (section 6.2).

  • The merging of the two-stage prioritisation framework into a single stage prioritisation framework while retaining key criteria from both stages (section 8.2). This will streamline the topic prioritisation process.

31 March 2025: We removed the appendix on highly specialised technologies in this manual in favour of publishing a guide on highly specialised technologies: NICE prioritisation board routing criteria. Links were updated throughout this manual to the new guide.

Minor changes since publication

12 November 2024: We added a statement to the section on type of topics the manual covers, to clarify our process during a national emergency.

ISBN: 978-1-4731-6903-6