The last year has seen both the 10th anniversary of the inception of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the enactment of the Health Act 2009
The last year has seen both the 10th anniversary of the inception of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the enactment of the Health Act 2009 which imposes a statutory obligation on providers of NHS services to have regard to the new NHS constitution.
The provisions of the constitution include specific patient rights in relation to the way in which decisions regarding the allocation of NHS resources are taken and also in connection with the implementation of guidance issued by NICE regarding NHS funding for new and existing medical treatments.
Resources
The allocation of NHS resources is a matter of significant public interest. A decision to allocate additional resources to a particular treatment for the benefit of one group of patients will necessarily often be at the detriment of patients with other conditions. Therefore, a balance must be struck between the competing interests of patients
