NICE pens two-year collaboration with the Academic Health Science Network

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has announced a new collaboration with the Academic Health Science Network, focused on supporting the NHS in adopting evidence-based healthcare.

As part of the agreement, both organisation will leverage their strengths, skills and resources in a bid to support use of the ‘best evidence-based healthcare’ in the NHS to improve patients’ lives.

In a statement, NICE said that AHSN shares its purpose of identifying and accelerating the uptake of well-evidenced innovations into the healthcare system for the improvement of quality, safety, outcomes and experience.

In 2013, the 15 regional AHSNs were established as the AHSN Network, drawing on a central mission to fast-track the uptake of well-evidenced innovation in the NHS in England.

NICE and AHSN have previously worked together to support and accelerate the rate of adoption and spread of evidence-based practice and innovation in the NHS – however, the formalised collaboration will focus on combining the expertise and resources of both organisations.

Under the collaboration, NICE and AHSN will focus on a number of priority areas including addressing market challenges for digital innovation, shaping and generating real world evidence and supporting innovators into the healthcare system.

This will involve expert teams from NICE and the AHSN Network meeting regularly throughout the year to develop a programme of work to help deliver the priorities outlined in the agreement.

“By working together more closely we can increase the speed at which innovative new medicines and technologies recommended by NICE can be cascaded through the healthcare system,” said Gillian Leng, chief executive of NICE.

“Our work with the AHSN Network will also ensure we are helping to produce the vital real-world evidence needed to guide the development of NICE recommendations,” she added.