The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 263 No 7074 p888
December 4, 1999 News

Scottish version of NICE to open in the spring

A Scottish equivalent of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence is expected to open in spring, 2000, to advise the National Health Service in Scotland on the cost-effectiveness of innovations in health care, including new drugs. Confirming the Scottish Executive's commitment to the new independent body, Scottish Health Minister Susan Deacon said on November 18: "We are determined that patients in Scotland should have access to the best and most effective modern treatments regardless of who they are or where they live. Sadly, there are still areas of Scotland where some people are denied treatment on the basis of their postcode. The Scottish Executive is committed to tackling this issue to ensure fair and equal access to patients on the basis of real need."

Susan Deacon

Provisionally known as the Scottish Health Technology Assessment Centre, the new body will be required to make recommendations designed to encourage the smooth movement of effective new treatments into mainstream practice. It will also have a role in reviewing existing treatments to ensure that resources are not being spent on those that are not effective.
The centre will be established as a special health board, if the Scottish Executive accepts all the recommendations in a recently published report by a multidisciplinary working group. The group was set up in March to consider comments made in an earlier consultation exercise and to develop a detailed implementation plan for the centre.
The group's report emphasises that the centre must be seen to be independent of NHSiS management when assessing evidence and generating its advice. It says that the centre should both carry out its own health technology assessments and adapt assessments from elsewhere for use in Scotland. It should also keep the public and clinical communities informed about all stages of its work and act as a national resource for information and advice on health technology assessment.
The report recommends that the centre's core staff should report to a management board that would be the centre's public face. The board would determine the centre's strategic direction, select and approve its work programme, ensure the credibility of advice, ensure the establishment of appropriate links and communications, oversee the core staff, and arrange regular independent review of the centre's performance.
The board would have access to a standing advisory council with broad representation from the NHSiS, the general Scottish public, voluntary organisations and the health care industry.
The centre's advice would be developed by short-life topic-specific groups. Issues of general policy or methodology would be referred to small reference groups comprising members chosen for their expertise rather than as representatives.