National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

(asked on 13th May 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will expedite the process by which the NICE publishes its decisions.


Answered by
Seema Kennedy Portrait
Seema Kennedy
This question was answered on 21st May 2019

The Government wants patients to be able to benefit from access to effective new treatments as quickly as possible.

Through its technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies guidance, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes authoritative, evidence-based recommendations on whether medicines and other treatments represent a clinically and cost effective use of National Health Service resources. NHS organisations are legally required to make funding available for NICE recommended treatments, usually within three months of final guidance.

Wherever possible, NICE currently aims to publish recommendations on new drugs as soon as possible after licensing, with draft guidance on cancer drugs published in advance of licensing. The 2019 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access includes a commitment to faster NICE assessments of new medicines, with timelines for non-cancer drugs to match those for cancer drugs, subject to the evidence base for the product being sufficiently developed.

Reticulating Splines