NICE was asked by the Department of Health (DH) to develop public health intervention guidance on sun protection resources and environmental changes to prevent skin cancer: NHS and local authorities.

The scope is available on the NICE website.

All registered stakeholders are now invited to comment on the evidence that has been assembled to inform the development of this guidance. This evidence will be used by the Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee (PHIAC) to develop draft recommendations. The evidence comprises a review of effectiveness and cost effectiveness, a review of qualitative evidence and an economic analysis.

Key areas for comment:

The aim of this consultation is to enable stakeholders to consider the evidence gathered and to provide the opportunity to comment, in particular on:

• major gaps in the evidence gathered, including papers in the published literature that we have not been able to identify
• queries around the interpretation of the evidence, both of single studies and the reviewed material as a whole
• the applicability of the evidence and its usefulness for the development of guidance
• issues relating to equality
• issues relating to cost-effectiveness.

Registered stakeholders are also invited to submit relevant additional evidence for consideration. In order for NICE to be able to produce guidance in a timely fashion, materials should be:

• relevant to the questions set out in the scope
• currently not included in the evidence reviews
• provided as a PDF or electronic link to an accessible version of the complete document.

(If it is not possible to submit additional evidence electronically, please contact the Project Co-ordinator to make alternative arrangements)

Any material submitted by stakeholders during this consultation will be assessed for its relevance using NICE's standard methods, as set out in the ‘Methods for development of NICE public health guidance' available on the NICE website. Relevant material will be included in a supplementary report to PHIAC.

The consultation on this evidence will run from Wednesday 7 July to Wednesday 4 August 2010.

Please provide all responses to this consultation on the of evidence electronically using the Stakeholder Comments Form (ensuring all relevant fields are completed, including your organisation's name) and forward this, along with any additional evidence you are submitting, by 5pm on Wednesday 4 August 2010 at the very latest to the following email address: resourcesandenvironmentskincancer@nice.org.uk

The Institute is unable to accept:

• Additional evidence submissions as a call for evidence has already taken place for phase 2 of this project. We are therefore particularly interested in seeking your views on the accuracy and interpretation of the evidence summarised in the evidence reports and expert papers.
• more than one response per stakeholder organisation
• comments received after the consultation deadline
• comments that are not on the correct proforma
• confidential information or other material that you would not wish to be made public.
• Please note - Comments forms with attachments such as research articles, letters or leaflets. If comments forms do have attachments they will be returned without being read. If the stakeholder resubmits the form without attachments, it must be by the consultation deadline.

What will happen to your comments:

• All comments (with the exception of personal, individual comments and late comments) will be sent to the project team at the end of the consultation
• Comments from registered stakeholders will be formally responded to by the project team and posted on the NICE website.
• No action will be taken upon receipt of personal, individual comments and late comments.
• PLEASE NOTE: The Institute reserves the right to summarise and edit comments received during consultations, or not to publish them at all, where in the reasonable opinion of the Institute, the comments are voluminous, publication would be unlawful or publication would be otherwise inappropriate.

Please note, the evidence presented here does not constitute the Institute's guidance on this topic. NICE will issue draft guidance on Resources and environmental changes to prevent skin cancer in January 2011.

Consultation documents