Healthy Skepticism Library item: 11516

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Kmietowicz Z.
NICE should have bigger role in guiding NHS, says report
BMJ 2007 Sep 22; 335:(7620):585
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/335/7620/585-b?etoc

Abstract:

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) should be expanded to enable it to assess all new drugs and treatments more quickly to set priorities about what care should be provided by the NHS in England and Wales, an independent think tank has recommended.

In its latest report the Institute for Public Policy Research looks at what policies are needed to sustain a high quality health service that is affordable but that also meets the public’s increasingly higher expectations of what care should be provided.

It says that there needs to be a clear framework for how health resources are rationed and that the public needs to understand that resources are limited. Otherwise conflicts will be resolved by the courts rather than by NICE, and the public will feel let down.

Primary care foundation trusts should be established to strengthen local accountability and engage the public in making . . .