Increasing use of health and social care data in guidance development

We're aiming to increase and extend the use of data in the development and evaluation of our guidance. Data sources could include:

• electronic health record data
• 'real world' data
• relevant data collected outside of the context of traditional trials.

Statement of intent

We've set out our ambitions in our finalised statement of intent, so that stakeholders and interested individuals can see what we're proposing to do in the future.

We're developing further documentation around our methods and processes and setting out our plans for implementation. 

Email DataAnalytics@nice.org.uk  if you'd like to be contacted about any events and developments in this area.

Consultation process

In June 2019 we published a draft version of the statement of intent. This outlined:

• the evidence we currently use
• the broader types of evidence available
• when and why we'd consider using a broader type of evidence
• practical considerations.

Consultation ran for 3 months. We received comments from more than 130 organisations and individuals.

After reviewing the feedback we've made the following changes to the statement:

• clarification on how these ambitions link to our health technology evaluation methods review
• acknowledgement of additional data sources, including potential emerging forms and sources
• acknowledgement that we may consider international sources of data
• reference to external initiatives
• additional detail about our proposals to ensure transparency
• details about the risks associated with this work, and how we propose to mitigate them.