February 2021
Price: £95 PLUS VAT
Format: DOWNLOADABLE PDF
***Full-scale policy conference taking place online***
This conference will discuss the future priorities and role of NICE in health and social care, and the next steps for accelerated access to innovative health technologies.
We are delighted that Professor Gillian Leng, Chief Executive, NICE has agreed to deliver a keynote address at this conference.
The discussion is bringing together stakeholders with further key policy officials who are due to attend from the DHSC; the MHRA; DIT; the NAO; and The Scottish Government.
The agenda:
- Priorities for NICE and responding to the changing health and social care landscape
- The future role for NICE in health and social care - evidence-based guidelines, patient involvement, utilising data, ensuring patient safety, and lessons from the response to COVID-19
- Priorities for supporting the development and adoption of innovative medicine
- Evidence challenge: validating models that change over time - dynamic prediction models
- Improving patient access to innovation - new approaches to evaluating health technologies, speed and safety, growing capacity, and managed access and fair pricing
- Next steps for NHS collaboration with NICE
Areas for discussion:
- COVID-19:
- during the crisis - assessing the role played by NICE, the impact of its single point of access for national advice on COVID-19, and learning from the process of providing rapid guidelines through the pandemic that seek to prioritise both safety and speed of response
- moving forward:
- how can NICE further support clinicians caring for patients with long term effects from COVID-19, and help with backlog and restoration of services
- following guidance on the management of the long-term effects of COVID-19, from NICE in conjunction with RCGP and SIGN,
- funding - assessing the impact and adequacy of funding through the Life Sciences Sector Deal 2 for ramping up NICE appraisal capacity
- effectiveness:
- use of data and next steps for developing evidence-based guidance
- ensuring that the NICE approach and its outputs reflect advances in science and the changing health and care landscape, in areas such as increased integration and personalisation
- ongoing consultation with outside bodies - to deliver best research outcomes and ensure practical guidance
- what actions NICE can take - in collaboration with other public bodies, policymakers and stakeholders where required - to reinforce the need for its guidance to be closely followed
- new technologies - developing evidence-based guidelines for advances such as genomics - with discussion expected on:
- next steps for developing methods for evaluating new treatments and enabling fast patient access to new care developments
- approaches to pricing and ensuring cost-effectiveness
- priorities for taking a collaborative approach and early engagement with the new technologies, including the involvement of patients
- how NICE can provide guidance and methods to support developments around personalised care
- the NICE review into how it holds appraisals in health technology and highly specialised technology:
- the present position - assessing current NICE approaches to appraisals in this area
- options for change - to what extent methods need to be updated and the changes to methods and processes required
- keeping pace - how it can remain up to date with a changing health and care policy landscape, and the relationship with the MHRA
- next steps - following the successful completion of the first digital health technologies pilot project, assessing the next steps for approving and improving health technologies
- patient access to innovation - the role of NICE in delivering improvements going forward, with discussion including:
- what lessons can be taken from the response to COVID-19 in terms of accelerating processes and working collaboratively
- opportunities for managed access, the progress of the Cancer Drugs Fund and the prospects and possibilities for building on this with an Innovative Medicines Fund
- overcoming barriers and the progress of the Accelerated Access Collaborative
- improvements, lessons and opportunities that have arisen from the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access as the scheme nears its third year
- the capacity of NICE to deal with increased appraisals
- ensuring patient safety - assessing proposals from the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review report
- next steps for NHS collaboration with NICE
A scan of relevant developments:
- NICE’s methods of technology evaluation - presenting a case for change - consultation methods used in TAs, assessing highly specialised technologies, and how guidance is produced
- NICE & SIGN announce latest rapid COVID-19 guideline will address Long COVID - work around long term health effects from COVID-19, also involving the RCGP
- NICE’s support for rebuilding capacity in non-COVID health services - outlining the approach to help manage the backlog and support the restoration of services
- The MHRA Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway is open for business - allows for enhanced coordination and monitoring of product development aimed at ensuring faster patient access to innovative new medicines
- Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review report - with a number of general and specific recommendations affecting NICE
- NHS Long Term Plan and the Life Sciences Sector Deal - with commitments on increasing and speeding up NICE appraisals
- Genome UK: the future of healthcare - the new national genomic healthcare strategy recently launched earlier this year
- NICE Annual Patient Safety update - with proposals for the evolution of patient safety and considering how the integration of new technology can help to detect patient safety signals more quickly
Policy officials attending
Our forums are known for attracting strong interest from policymakers and stake holders. Places have been reserved by parliamentary pass-holders from the House of Lords, and officials from DHSC; the Department of International Trade; the MHRA; the National Audit Office; and The Scottish Government.
This is a full-scale conference taking place online***
- full, four-hour programme including comfort breaks - you’ll also get a full recording and transcript to refer back to
- information-rich discussion involving key policymakers and stakeholders
- conference materials provided in advance, including speaker biographies
- speakers presenting via webcam, accompanied by slides if they wish, using the Cisco WebEx professional online conference platform (easy for delegates - we’ll provide full details)
- opportunities for live delegate questions and comments with all speakers
- a recording of the addresses, all slides cleared by speakers, and further materials, is made available to all delegates afterwards as a permanent record of the proceedings
- delegates are able to add their own written comments and articles following the conference, to be distributed to all attendees and more widely
- networking too - there will be opportunities for delegates to e-meet and interact - we’ll tell you how!
Full information and guidance on how to take part will be sent to delegates before the conference
