Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how NICE is reprioritising technology appraisals that were delayed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will continue to prioritise topics according to those that will best support the system in its return to normal working. There are many different clinical and operational factors that need to be taken into account when rescheduling individual topics such as:

- Committee slot capacity;

- Team availability;

- Original running order;

- Stage of development when paused and time required to move to the next stage (lead-in time);

- External clinical and operational prioritisation; and

- Ongoing methods and process review work

NICE is conscious that the COVID-19 situation is changing all the time and it will continue to review its plans and update stakeholders accordingly. Information regarding the current timeline for each appraisal topic is published on the individual topic webpage on the NICE website and this will be updated accordingly.