Planning surveillance activity
Surveillance activity must be proportionate and targeted so that it identifies information that is most likely to have an impact on guidance recommendations.
As a minimum, NICE considers:
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evidence (including research or other data) or system intelligence (that is, information about how the health and care system operates, including about policy, and service organisation and delivery) provided by individuals, organisations or groups; we call this reactive monitoring
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MHRA safety information, including from the NHS Central Alerting System (CAS) and as Drug Safety Updates.
In addition, for each piece of guidance, or group of recommendations within a piece of guidance, we consider whether further proactive surveillance is needed. This can include:
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proactive tracking of other events (such as ongoing clinical trials or anticipated changes to technologies) that are expected to have an impact on guidance recommendations
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a planned surveillance review after publication of the guidance.
For priority areas, we also gather system intelligence and seek information about trends in emerging evidence that might impact NICE guidance (see NICE's webpage on priority topics).
Decisions about what surveillance activity is needed for each piece of guidance, or group of recommendations within a piece of guidance, are taken when the guidance is published. We may also change a decision when information becomes available to suggest we need to take a different approach (such as information gathered through reactive monitoring).