About NICE | General cancer information

NICE stands for The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. It is an independent organisation. It was set up by the Government in 1999. Skiptomaincontent HomeAboutcancerGeneralcancerinformationTreatmentforcancerAccesstotreatmentNICEAboutNICE NICEdecideswhichdrugsandtreatmentsareavailableontheNHSinEngland. WhatisNICE? NICEstandsforTheNationalInstituteforHealthandCareExcellence.Itisanindependentorganisation.ItwassetupbytheGovernmentin1999.ItsaimwastodecidewhichdrugsandtreatmentsareavailableontheNHSinEngland. TheAllWalesMedicinesStrategyGroup(AWMSG)makesdecisionsfortheNHSinWales.ItgenerallyfollowsNICEadvice,buttheyarenotobligedtodoit.ScotlandandNorthernIrelandhaveseparateorganisationstomakedecisions. TheGovernmentdevelopedNICEtotrytoreducetheeffectsofthepostcodelottery.Thelotteryledtocertainpeoplehavingsomedrugsandtreatmentsinpartsofthecountry.Buttheydidnotinothers. NICEaimstogiveindependentadvice.TheysuggestwhichtreatmentsshouldbeavailableontheNHSinEngland.Italsoaimstomakesurethatpeoplehavethesameaccesstotreatmentandcarewherevertheylive. WhatNICEdoes NICE’smainresponsibilitiesareto: assessnewdrugsandtreatmentsastheybecomeavailableprovideevidencebasedguidelinesonthetreatmentofparticularconditionsprovideguidelinesonhowpublichealthandsocialcareservicescansupportpeopleprovideinformationservicesforthosemanagingandprovidinghealthandsocialcare NICEconsiderswhetheratreatmentbenefitsthepatients.AlsoifithelpstheNHSmeetitstargets,forexample,byimprovingcancersurvivalrates.Italsoconsidersifatreatmentisvalueformoneyorcosteffective. WhereNICEgetsadvicefrom Whenmakingdecisions,NICEasksforexpertadvicefrom: medicalandotherhealthandsocialcareprofessionalspatients,carersandmembersofthepublicNHSorganisationsindustrysocialcarebusinesseslocalgovernment NICEissuesitsguidance.NHStruststhenmustmakethosedrugsortreatmentsavailable.NICEdoesn'tgiveanyextramoney,oradviceonhowtofindthemoney. HowNICEworks TheDepartmentofHealth(DH)forEnglandandNHSEnglanddecidewhichtopicsNICEwilllookat. NICEdividesitsguidanceinto5mainareas: healthtechnology–specificmedicines,treatmentsandproceduresclinicalpractice–howdoctorsandnursesshouldtreatdiseasesandconditionspublichealth–healthpromotionandpreventingillnesssocialcare–servicestohelppeoplewithdailylifeathome,incarehomes,ordaycentresqualitystandards–guidelinesthathelptobetteraparticularareaofcare IndependentcommitteesorgroupsmakeNICE'sdecisions.Thesealwaysincludepatientorpublicmembers(laymembers),academicsandresearchers. Relatedcontent Relatedlinks HowNICEmakesadecision Accesstotreatment Treatmentforcancer Copingwithcancer Coronavirusandcancer Weknowit’saworryingtimeforpeoplewithcancer,wehaveinformationtohelp. Moreinformation Relatedlinks HowNICEmakesadecision NICEmakesdecisionsonwhetheradrugortreatmentshouldbeavailableontheNHS. Accesstotreatment ThereareseveraldecisionstobemadeaboutacancertreatmentbeforeyoucanhaveitontheNHS. Treatmentforcancer Treatmentscanincludesurgery,radiotherapyanddrugtreatments(suchaschemotherapy,hormonetherapyortargetedcancerdrugs). Findoutabouttreatmentsandhowtocopewithsideeffects. Copingwithcancer Copingwithcancercanbedifficult.Thereishelpandsupportavailable.Findoutabouttheemotional,physicalandpracticaleffectsofcancerandhowtomanagethem.  AboutCancergenerouslysupportedbyDangoorEducationsince2010. Findaclinicaltrial SearchourclinicaltrialsdatabaseforallcancertrialsandstudiesrecruitingintheUK CancerChatforum Talktootherpeopleaffectedbycancer Nursehelpline08088004040 Questionsaboutcancer?Callfreephone9to5MondaytoFridayoremailus