NICE under fire again

By Rachel

The UK drug watchdog, NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence), was under fire again recently, this time from the Daily Mail (one of the UK’s most influential national newspapers). This time it’s not the guidance given on prescription drugs that are ‘too expensive’ for the NHS, but rather how much NICE spends on ‘spin’: “fury over drug watchdog’s £4.5m PR budget”. The article states that NICE spends £4.5m on ‘communications’ and £3.4m on assessing new medicines. However, a breakdown on what is included in the communications category is not divulged.

NICE is a hugely influential organisation.  In 2006/7 it produced 21 technology appraisals, 50 interventional procedure reviews, 13 clinical guidelines and 2 sets of public health advice, all of which required extensive communication and collaboration with a large number of stakeholders, ranging from patients to healthcare professionals, public health experts and health economists. In addition to engaging stakeholders in the review processes, NICE reaches out to target audiences through a number of other communications channels to ensure there is a two-way dialogue between stakeholders and partner organisations.

It seems to me that the issue here is the balance of spend – as a public body, NICE cannot make recommendations without due consultation.  It has a duty to communicate clearly and transparently with patient groups and healthcare professionals.  This communication requirement cannot realistically be achieved on a shoestring budget, but neither should it be profligate in its spend.

Add comment September 12th, 2008