UK

In June 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published two new Interventional Procedure Guidance (laser lithotripsy for difficult-to-treat bile duct stones and percutaneous insertion of a closure device to repair a paravalvular leak around a replaced mitral or aortic valve), one new Medical Technologies Guidance (Plus Sutures for preventing surgical site infection), and four new Medtech Innovation Briefings (RapidAI for analyzing CT/MRI brain scans, WoundExpress, Magtrace and Sentimag, and SYNE-COV). Also, four clinical guidelines were updated, and two new published.

On June 22, 2021, NHS England released 2019/20 National Cost Collection Data, which is a nationally mandated collection of cost data from secondary care and tertiary care providers that are delivering services in the NHS. The 2019/20 cost data is submitted by 208 NHS providers and gives the most comprehensive insight into how the sector spent £72.6 billion delivering healthcare to patients.

On June 16, 2021, the winners of round two Artificial Intelligence in Health and Care Award (AI Award) were announced in England. The scheme was launched in September 2020, and the first-round winners were announced in December 2020. A total of 38 technologies awarded second-round competition and will share over £36 million.

In late May 2021, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) working group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England, has published Bulletins 0177 and 0074 with changes to be implemented not later than August 01, 2021. Five new procedure codes related to diagnostic imaging, ENT, breast reconstruction, and gynecology, and nine new diagnostic codes were introduced.

In May 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published five new Interventional Procedure Guidance (ex-situ machine perfusion for extracorporeal preservation of lungs for transplant, transvaginal laser therapy for stress urinary incontinence and for urogenital atrophy, electrohydraulic lithotripsy for difficult-to-treat bile duct stones, and permanent His-bundle pacemaker for heart failure), one new Medical Technologies Guidance (UroLift for benign prostatic hyperplasia), and two new Medtech Innovation Briefings (Axonics sacral neuromodulation system for faecal incontinence and KODEX-EPD for cardiac imaging during ablation of arrhythmias). Also, three clinical guidelines and two Medical Technologies Guidance were updated.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing health technology assessments concerning in-vitro diagnostics in its Diagnostic Guidance and Medtech Innovation Briefing programs. As of June 08, 2021, there are ten ongoing assessments.

In May 2021, NICE published an impact report on diagnostic pathology, which provides an uptake analysis of several NICE-recommended pathology diagnostics, including high-sensitivity troponin tests, placental growth factor (PIGF)-based tests for suspected pre-eclampsia, faecal immunochemical test (FIT) for colorectal cancer, and others.

On May 19, 2021, Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) issued a review of spread and adoption approaches for innovations in the health sector. The study highlights the complexity of spread work, the diversity of approaches, the influential factors and provides recommendations for the future.

On May 17, 2021, NHS England published an update of the Specialized Services Policy Pipeline (covering the period January 20, 2021 - April 20, 2021). One new Clinical Commissioning Policy related to radiotherapy was added to the work program, and four new policies related to radiotherapy were published in the period from January 20, 2021, to April 20, 2021. Two policies related to heart valve procedures and extracorporeal treatment were discontinued.

On April 29, 2021, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) HTA Programme opened NICE Rolling Call for first-stage applications that should meet research recommendations provided by NICE guidance published from 2015 onwards. The first-stage application deadline is September 01, 2021.

In April 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published three new Interventional Procedure Guidance (repetitive short-pulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation for glaucoma, deep brain stimulation for chronic, severe, treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder in adults, and Melphalan chemosaturation for primary or metastatic cancer in the liver) and two Medtech Innovation Briefings (microINR for anticoagulation therapy and RenalSense Clarity RMS for acute kidney injury), and two clinical guidelines (for atrial fibrillation and chronic pain in over 16s).

On May 10, 2021, NICE announced the update of the evidence standards framework (ESF) for digital health technologies with changes in response to an ESF user survey that ran from October to December 2019. Furthermore, NICE launched a new Office for Digital Health to coordinate its digital health activities and strategic projects and manage collaboration with external partners.