College News - August 2011

16 August 2011

NIHCE: call to participate in review of guide to the methods of technology appraisal.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is reviewing the Guide to the Methods of Technology Appraisal which underpins its Technology Appraisal Programme.  The Guide provides an overview of the principles and methods of NICE Health Technology Appraisal. It describes aspects of appraisal methodology and is a guide for all organisations considering submitting evidence to the Technology Appraisal Programme.

The review of the Guide to the Methods of Technology Appraisal will occur over the next year resulting in a revised draft which will be available for a three month public consultation.

A Working Party will be responsible for drafting of the update to the Guide on behalf of a Steering Group. The working party’s considerations will be informed by a number of workshops, for which briefing papers will be mostly developed by the NICE Decision Support Unit. A wide range of external partners will be invited to the workshops: methodological experts; patient, industry and NHS representatives; NICE staff and members of the Appraisal Committees.

The arrangements are as follows:
-       Two nominations are sought for health care professional membership of the Working Party.

• We request that the individuals you nominate for the working party membership have a good understanding of the general methodological concepts that underpin the Technology Appraisals Programme, and the ability to represent the views of your particular constituency.
• This is a standing membership and thus we expect individuals to be available for all or most of the meetings.

-       Two nominations are sought for health care professional attendees at each individual workshop.

• In order to fully contribute to the Methods Review Workshops we request that you nominate individuals that have a good understanding of health technology assessment and an understanding of the topic area specific to that workshop.
• These nominations can (but do not have to) be the working party members.

The RCPE, along with other Colleges, has been asked to nominate interested individuals. Interested Fellows or Members should be available on the scheduled dates for the Working Party meetings and/or workshop dates (further details available here). Interested Fellows or Members should e-mail c.simpson@rcpe.ac.uk by Friday 26 August 2011.