NICE’s strategic priorities in 2026 to 2027

We're focusing our guidance development on the areas that will deliver the greatest benefit for the health and care system.

By aligning our work with national priorities, we'll ensure that people have timely access to effective, evidence-based care, and that the NHS and wider system can make best use of resources.

Over the next year, our prioritisation decisions will be shaped by the government’s strategic direction for health and life sciences, and by the needs of the NHS, local systems and the people who use services.

Topic suites 

We have prioritised the maintenance and updating of guideline content in the following topic areas (suites):

  • cancer 

  • cardiometabolic disease 

  • mental health 

  • women’s and reproductive health.

These high priority suites will: 

  • ensure our guidance aligns with system priorities, such as the Modern Service Frameworks, and emerging evidence

  • consolidate, update or archive older guidance where appropriate 

  • bring all relevant NICE guidance together, including technology appraisals and healthtech guidance.

Supporting the 10 Year Plan for health and life sciences

The government’s 10 Year Plan for Healthcare and Life Sciences Sector Plan outline a strengthened role for NICE in making sure we help get the best care to people fast, while ensuring value for the taxpayer.

Together, these plans set 3 core priorities for NICE:

1. Faster, fairer roll out of high impact HealthTech 

The new National Healthtech Access Programme, developed by NICE with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, MHRA and the Office for Life Sciences, will expand our Technology Appraisals programme to include selected high‑impact technologies. This will enable national reimbursement and consistent access across the health service, similar to medicines.

2. Updating guidance to drive smarter spending   

Our whole life-cycle approach ensures guidance remains current, reflecting the latest evidence, costs and clinical practice. By regularly reviewing recommendations, we help the NHS focus spending on the technologies and treatments that deliver the greatest value and patient benefit.  

3. Parallel decisions for faster access   

The new alignment between NICE and the MHRA will support faster regulatory and evidence review processes. This approach is expected to reduce the time it takes for new medicines to reach patients by 3 to 6 months.

Find out more about NICE and the 10 Year Health Plan.

Modern service frameworks

NICE is a core partner in the development of Modern Service Frameworks (MSFs), a key vehicle for delivering the ambitions of the 10 Year Health Plan. MSFs aim to modernise care pathways, improve productivity and reduce unwarranted variation. 

NICE will define the standards and requirements for high-quality care within each MSFs. The frameworks will set out how these standards should be implemented across systems, supporting more consistent, equitable and efficient care. 

Prioritising key clinical areas

Our guidance programme is aligned to the national priorities where evidence-based recommendations can have the greatest impact on outcomes, equity and system sustainability.

Cancer

Cancer affects 1 in 2 people during their lifetime, and UK outcomes still lag behind other comparable countries. The government’s national cancer plan aims to transform outcomes. NICE continues to develop and update guidance, quality standards and evaluations of emerging AI and digital technologies to support earlier diagnosis and more effective treatment. 

Cardiovascular disease (CVD)

CVD is the largest single contributor to preventable mortality. The NHS Long Term Plan sets an ambition to prevent over 150,000 heart attacks, strokes and dementia cases by 2029. We are aligning our guidance with the priorities set out in the cardiometabolic MSF and the 10 Year Health Plan. 

Children and young people

Demand for children’s healthcare is rising, with significant implications for long-term health and NHS capacity. NICE guidance on sepsis, asthma and mental health supports improved care for children and young people. Further work will strengthen the evidence base in areas such as mental health, long-term conditions and obesity. 

End of life care

The palliative and end of life care MSF will support more consistent, high-quality services for people nearing the end of their lives. NICE’s guidance and quality standards in this area will underpin the adoption of evidence based, person-centred care. 

Frailty and dementia

Frailty and dementia contribute significantly to loss of independence, disability and unplanned service use. Our guidance on dementia assessment and management, frailty prevention, multimorbidity and falls supports better outcomes for older people and more sustainable service delivery. 

Sepsis 

Sepsis remains one of the most serious and preventable causes of harm in the NHS. We are updating our guideline on suspected sepsis to incorporate new earlywarning scores for children and pregnant women, as well as new diagnostic tools. 

Severe mental illness 

Mental health conditions remain the leading cause of disability in the UK. With the government investing in specialist mental health emergency departments, NICE will maintain and update its comprehensive guidance suite as part of the whole life-cycle approach. 

Biosimilars and generics 

Biosimilars and generics are central to enabling wider, cost-effective access to treatment. They also form part of our whole life-cycle approach, which will help the NHS stay up to date with best practice.  

Find out more about NICE and its work on biosimilars and generics.

Through lifecycle guidance updates, we will assess opportunities to recommend these medicines where evidence supports their use. The Biosimilars Taskforce, jointly led by NICE and partners, will further align regulatory, guidance and commissioning processes to get these medicines to patients faster. 

Horizon scanning: identifying emerging innovations 

Our horizon scanning function provides an early view of disruptive and high impact innovations in medicines and healthtech over the next 2 to 5 years. This insight informs future planning and ensures NICE remains responsive to novel technologies. 

Horizon scanning is a core workstream that will be embedded into programmes such as the National HealthTech Access Programme and whole life-cycle approach. In addition, horizon scanning will support the development of the upcoming MSFs. We continue to contribute to the Medicines Medical Devices (MMD) Access Initiative, helping to ensure a coordinated, system‑wide view of emerging innovations and their potential impact.   

Emerging medicines

Key areas of focus include advanced therapies such as CAR‑T, ATMPs, and tumour‑infiltrating lymphocytes. We continue to track rapidly evolving treatments and technologies in obesity and personalised medicine, including cancer vaccines and radioligand therapies. Alongside this, we are preparing for and coordinating an the annual, system‑wide horizon scanning process via the MMD Access Initiative to support preparedness for disruptive medicines. 

Emerging HealthTech

Upcoming horizon scans will encompass emerging areas highlighted in the 10 Year Health Plan, including artificial intelligence, genomics and wearable technologies. Our processes will also incorporate scanning for companion diagnostics and genomic testing, working in close collaboration with medicines horizon scanning where these tests are required to support the introduction of upcoming medicines.