The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7391 p285
11 March 2006

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NICE referrals to be faster

Decisions to refer topics for review by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence are to be speeded up.

Health minister Jane Kennedy said: “Topic selection is a critical part of the process of producing NICE guidance. We need the process to be quicker, more responsive and have more NHS and patient representation to ensure the topics referred to NICE are the ones on which advice is most needed.”

Consultation has started on a decision-making system in which NICE will have a larger role in the selection process. NICE will administer the initial stages of the topic selection process and be the principal point of contact for those wishing to submit proposals.

Final decisions on topics to be reviewed will still be made by the Department of Health, but NICE will run the committees that decide which topics have the most impact on the NHS. The consultation runs until 9 June.