Chris Whitehouse, a political consultant and expert on medical technology policy and regulation at Whitehouse Communications, shares details of a new consultation exercise by medical device regulator, NICE.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has launched a consultation on updates to its NICE-wide topic prioritisation manual, setting out how the organisation will decide which technologies, treatments and guidance areas it takes forward in future.
The revised manual is designed to align better with NICE’s work with current NHS priorities and wider national policy. Proposed changes include clearer definitions of priority areas for guidance development, alongside greater clarity on topics that sit outside NICE’s remit. NICE also says the updates will help to support major policy programmes such as the NHS Modern Service Frameworks and the proposed Single National Formulary.
The most significant proposals relate to flexibility and faster routing of topics. NICE plans to introduce a more adaptable “whole life cycle” approach, allowing technologies to move between different guidance programmes as evidence develops. The consultation also sets out new factors for selecting HealthTech topics for appraisal through NICE methods and confirms that decisions will be overseen by the NICE prioritisation board. In addition, the current two-stage prioritisation framework would be merged into a single streamlined process.
The consultation signals that NICE is seeking a more responsive and coordinated system for assessing innovative medical technologies. A more streamlined prioritisation process, alongside clearer routes for evaluation, could help companies better understand how new products may be considered for future NHS adoption.
The consultation is open now and will close at 5pm on 19th May. It can be accessed here.
The Author used AI in preparing this article. Comments upon or questions about this article can be addressed to chris.whitehouse@whitehousecomms.com.
