1 Introduction
Background
1. On 19 July 2012, the then Secretary of State
for Health wrote to the Chair of the Committee noting that the
appointment of the current Chair of NICE was due to expire on
31 March 2013 and asking the Committee to undertake a pre-appointment
hearing with the Department's preferred candidate. The Secretary
of State said that it was his aim to select a candidate before
Christmas and expressed the hope that the Committee would be able
to hold its hearing before Christmas. The Chair replied, agreeing
to the request.
2. In preparation for the hearing, the Committee
decided to issue a call for written evidence and then hold two
sessions of oral evidence. The terms of reference in the call
for evidence were as follows:
The term of office of the current Chair of the National
Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Sir Michael
Rawlins, ends on 31 March 2013 and the Department of Health has
indicated that it will shortly be advertising the post. The Health
Committee will be holding a pre-appointment hearing for the Government's
preferred candidate for the post of Chair of NICE towards the
end of the year.
In advance of that hearing, the Committee has decided
to hold a short inquiry into the work of NICE, examining the way
that it has discharged its current functions and looking forward
to the changes in its role that will come into effect from 1 April
next year, when its name will change to the National Institute
for Health and Care Excellence and its status will change to that
of an executive non-departmental public body. The Committee would
therefore welcome written submissions on the work of NICE and
in particular is interested in:
- NICE's role in relation to
evaluating the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of drugs and
other clinical interventions (through medical technology appraisals)
including how its role will be affected by the intended introduction
of value-based pricing for drugs purchased by the NHS
- The role of NICE Quality Standards in the new
NHS system architecture, in particular the status of NICE guidelines
in determination of commissioning priorities
- The continuing role of NICE clinical guidelines
(on treatment for specific conditions) in improving the quality
of healthcare, in particular in the context of analysis of effectiveness
of established treatment procedures and review of variations of
outcome
- The effect of the new public health system architecture
on NICE's continued role in respect of public health guidance
- What effect NICE's new responsibilities in relation
to evaluating social care interventions might have on its work
overall and how this will relate to the integration of health
and social care services
3. In all we received 73 memoranda. In our oral
evidence we heard from: Sir Michael Rawlins, Chair, and Sir Andrew
Dillon, Chief Executive, NICE; Professor Peter Johnson, Chief
Clinician, Cancer Research UK; Dr Linda Patterson OBE, Clinical
Vice-President, Royal College of Physicians of London; Laura Weir,
Chair, Patients Involved in NICE; Stephen Whitehead, Chief Executive,
Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry; Professor
Peter Smith, Professor of Health Policy at Imperial College London
and senior research associate at the Nuffield Trust; Professor
Peter Littlejohns, Professor of Public Health, King's College,
London; and Professor Albert Weale, Professor of Political Theory
and Public Policy at University College London. We are grateful
to all of those who contributed to our inquiry.
4. The Secretary of state wrote to the Committee
on 7 December to inform us that the Government's preferred candidate
for Chair of NICE was Professor David Haslam CBE. The Committee
held the pre-appointment hearing on 11 December and subsequently
endorsed Professor Haslam's appointment.[2]
This report examines issues that we discussed during the oral
evidence sessions leading up to the pre-appointment hearing.
2 Health Committee, Sixth Report of Session 2012-13,
Appointment of the Chair of the National Institute for Health
and Care Excellence, HC 831. The Secretary of State made the
substantive appointment on 14 December 2012. Back
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