NICE unveils new strategy to improve patient access to innovative treatments

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has unveiled new guideline recommendations with the aim of providing accelerated patient access to new treatments and innovations.

The five-strategy, launched yesterday, will seek to transform ‘key elements’ of its approach to the latest and most effective treatments, while maintaining robust and trusted methods.

In a statement, NICE said that it will engage with the life sciences industry earlier in the innovation pathway to enable patients to access new treatments faster.

This includes forging partnerships to expand the organisation’s skills, capacity and capabilities, as well as renewing and developing collaborations to support patient safety and track adoption of improvements.

“The new strategy sets out a vision for the future where NICE will be more dynamic, work more collaboratively, and continue to build on the excellent foundations of the last 22 years,” said Gillian Leng, chief executive of NICE.

“Our work to produce rapid COVID-19 guidelines during the pandemic has hastened our desire for change. We demonstrated that we can be flexible and fleet of foot, without losing the rigour of our work, and we will now look to embed that approach in our day-to-day work.

“The world around us is changing. New treatments and technologies are emerging at a rapid pace, with real-world data driving a revolution in evidence. We will help busy healthcare professionals to navigate these new changes and ensure patients have access to the best care and latest treatments,” she added.