Digital Health Technologies: Evaluation, adoption and the NHS

Following the publication of our new guideline, ovarian cancer: identifying and managing familial and genetic risk, the latest episode of NICETalks focuses on genetic testing and how it can help to identify those most at risk of ovarian cancer. We talk to Ranjit Manchanda, professor of gynaecological oncology, Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust, Dr Judith Hayward, GP with special interest in genetics and Joanne Stanford who joined us to share her personal experience of genetic testing.

In this month's podcast, we speak with Jeanette Kusel, director of NICE Advice and Luella Trickett, director of value and access at the Association of British HealthTech Industries. They outline the benefits and opportunities NICE Advice can provide. Go to: https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/life-sciences/nice-advice-service?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=nicetalks&utm_campaign=january2024&utm_term=landingpage&utm_content=linkclick

In this episode, the directors of NICE's guidance producing centres reflect on the highlights of 2023. We hear from Mark Chapman, interim director of HealthTech; Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation; and Professor Jonathan Benger, chief medical officer and interim director of the centre for guidelines.

More than 10,000 virtual ward beds will be used by the NHS in England this winter to care for people with an acute respiratory infections. To learn more about the benefits and opportunities of introducing a virtual ward, or hospital at home service, our guests are Mark Salmon, programme director in the Science, Evidence, and Analytics Directorate at NICE and Becky Housley, consultant nurse at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with responsibility for the virtual health hub.

It is estimated that there are around 85,000 strokes every year in England, with over 1 million people currently living with its long-term effects. We catch up with Jon Brown, chair of the independent committee and Professor Stephen Hill, lay member on the committee about NICE’s updated guidance on stroke rehabilitation.

We’re proposing changes to how we select topics for guidance production. This is to ensure we focus on what matters most to the health and care system. In this month’s podcast, we hear from Professor Jonathan Benger, NICE's chief medical officer, and Dr Jeanette Dickson, chair of council at the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, about how this will work.

We’re making some changes to how we evaluate medicines to help get new treatments to patients quicker. In this month's podcast, we hear from Jenniffer Prescott, programme director within NICE's Centre for Health Technology Evaluation and Victoria Jordan from The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry about our new approach.

On 10 July NHS England published proposals for establishing an antimicrobial products subscription model for products that offer exceptional value to patients and the NHS. This builds on a recent pilot project that we co-led which paid companies a fixed annual fee for antimicrobials based on their value to the NHS, rather than the volume used. We speak with Sophie Cooper, NICE's senior scientific adviser, and David Glover, NHS England's assistant director of medicines analysis.

We speak with Meindert Boysen, NICE's head of international affairs, and Dr Nicole Mittmann, vice president of scientific evidence, methodologies and resources at CADTH - Canada's drug and health technology agency. They discuss the global partnerships that are enabling NICE to remain at the forefront of guidance development methodology.

Following Mental Health Awareness Week, we hear about 4 NICE-approved digital technologies that can help children and young people with mild to moderate symptoms of anxiety or low mood. Our guests are Sarah Byron, NICE's programme director for devices, diagnostics and digital, and Lily Tang, deputy director of digital investment strategy at NHS England.