NICE begins recruiting members for new Diagnostics Advisory Committee
Wednesday, 02 December 2009 09:49
NICE signalled the development of its latest work programme today 20th November 2009, by starting recruitment to a new Diagnostics Advisory Committee. The standing committee will be responsible for evaluating diagnostic technologies and making recommendations for their use within the NHS in England. Experts in specific topics and disease conditions will also be co-opted onto the Committee to expand the expertise of the standing members.
The move follows recognition from the Department of Health (DH) and the diagnostics industries that, in order to help the NHS make more efficient use of available diagnostics, there needs to be a separate programme within NICE, under the umbrella of its recently established Evaluation Pathway Programme for Medical Technologies, which willselect topics to be considered by the Diagnostics Advisory Committee.
Diagnostic tests can be broken down into four main types:
- In vitrotests - tests, such as blood or urine tests, that can detect diseases, conditions or infections.
- Imaging tests - for example x-rays, MRI scans and scintigraphy
- Endoscopy - a minimally invasive diagnostic procedure that is used to assess the inside of the body by inserting a tube into the body. The instrument may have a rigid or flexible tube and not only provide an image for visual inspection and photography, but also enable taking biopsies and retrieving foreign objects.
- Physiological measurement - these are tests, such as cardiac electrophysiology and exercise tolerance testing, that predominantly focus on assessing the function of major organ systems, providing information on the extent of disease or disability and the provision and/or response to therapeutic interventions.
Diagnostic technologies may be used for various purposes, including initial diagnosis, clinical monitoring, screening, treatment triage, assessing stages of disease progression and risk stratification.
Dr Carole Longson, Health Technology Evaluation Centre Director, said: "NICE evaluates diagnostics in our clinical guidelines, technology appraisals and interventional procedures work programmes. However the increasing volume, range and complexity of diagnostics becoming available suggests that the additional, dedicated capacity we are developing will help the NHS make more efficient use of available diagnostics. We are at the early stages of setting up this programme and are working closely with the diagnostics industries and our partners in the NHS on piloting its design and implementation.
"A key element of our approach is the establishment of an independent Diagnostics Advisory Committee whose standing members will have extensive clinical evaluative and technical expertise. In addition, 'content expert' members, drawn from the diagnostics and clinical communities most directly associated with the topic being considered, will be invited to join the committee for the duration of each specific topic. We have adopted this model because it reflects the need for the Committees' evaluations to be based on a high level of content specific clinical and technical knowledge and expertise."
Once the new programme is fully established, it will form part of the Evaluation Pathway Programme for Medical Technologies (http://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/medicaltechnologies/medicaltechnologiesprogramme.jsp) as one of the potential evaluation routes for medtech products notified to it, and its topics will be selected by the Medical Technologies Advisory Committee.