NICE to be tasked with assessing medication value from 2014

The government has announced that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) will be tasked with assessing the full value of medications from 2014 onwards.

When new NHS pricing arrangements are introduced next year, the regulator will receive broader scope to assess a medicine's benefits and costs, building on its current drug evaluation processes.

The aim of this change is to ensure the NHS pays a reasonable price for new medicines that is more closely linked to their value to patients and society.

NICE is also set to see its remit expanding to cover social care as well as the NHS and public health from April 2013 onwards.

Health minister Lord Howe said: "This will allow us to draw on NICE's world-leading expertise as we develop the Value-Based Pricing scheme. The role of NICE is developing and growing as it takes on new responsibilities in social care."

The organisation was originally set up in 1999, with the ultimate goal of reducing variation in the availability and quality of NHS treatments and care.