The UK’s drug cost watchdog is calling for a review of the way in which new drugs are adopted, evaluated and taken up by the NHS.

This review needs to involve patients, people working in or with the NHS, the life sciences industries and healthcare researchers, says the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), in its response to a consultation on how it currently evaluates new drugs. The review should be part of any changes made to NICE’s current methodology, the Institute adds.

The six-month consultation, on proposals to regularise NICE’s decision-making process through value-based assessment, has produced no agreement among the more than 900 opinions received from 121 organisations and individuals, and it is clear that just changing NICE’s methods will not overcome concerns about how the NHS accesses new treatments, said the Institute’s chief executive, Sir Andrew Dillon.

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