The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7206 p44
13 July 2002

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NICE to consult the BNF

The British National Formulary has become an official National Institute for Clinical Excellence consultee.

The decision to invite the BNF's input to all pharmaceutical appraisals was made on 13 June and came shortly before a House of Commons Health Select Committee report on NICE which said that it should seek input into its decisions from the BNF.

The committee says that to neglect the input of respected bodies, such as the BNF and Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, is to miss a key opportunity for quality assurance of NICE's work and to risk damaging its credibility.

Members of Parliament on the committee call for greater transparency in NICE appraisals. They say that it should give more information on how and why it takes decisions and that all information it considers should be available for public scrutiny. This would mean that companies would no longer be able to submit unpublished data on their products subject to confidentiality.

They also recommend significant changes to what the institute does. The report says that the Government should shift the emphasis of NICE's work from appraisals of specific treatments or interventions towards producing guidance on classes of drugs and the treatment of particular conditions.

The committee also says that there should be systematic monitoring of the implementation of NICE guidance. It says that the Commission for Health Improvement should undertake specific national reviews of NICE guidance in priority areas and that strategic health authorities should include the implementation of guidance in their regular monitoring of primary care and hospital trusts.

National Institute for Clinical Excellence, Second Report 2001–2002 The Stationery Office, HC 515-I, ISBN 0 21 500402 7, £11.50. Also available on the internet.