Foreword

NICE process and methods

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides guidance to the NHS in England on the clinical and cost effectiveness of selected new and established technologies. NICE carries out appraisals of health technologies at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. Guidance produced by NICE on health technologies is also applied selectively in Northern Ireland and Wales.

This document is one of a series describing the processes and methods that NICE uses to carry out technology appraisals. It focuses on the technology appraisal processes (and provides an overview for organisations invited to contribute to an appraisal).

The documents in the series are:

Guide to the processes of technology appraisal (this document).
Guide to the methods of technology appraisal.
Cancer Drugs Fund technology appraisal process and methods (addendum).
Guide to the technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies appeal process.

Organisations invited to contribute to NICE technology appraisals (consultees and commentators) should read this guide with the other documents listed above. All documents are available on the NICE website.