Patients, the Public and Priorities in Healthcare

A Citizens Council of 30 members of the general public was established by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to gauge the underlying values of the society it serves and inform its decisions. This book provides a ‘position statement’ on the Citizens Council, an exploration of how patients interact with NICE and how their views are taken into account, and a national and international perspective on new issues facing the interaction between patients, the public and healthcare provision. Contents include: establishment of NICE; NICE’s commitment to patient, carer and public involvement; patient and carer involvement in NICE clinical guidelines; patient involvement in NICE technology appraisals; from patient involvement in clinical guidance to lay involvement in public health guidance; patient involvement in NICE interventional procedures; patient and voluntary organisation support for implementing NICE guidance; community engagement to improve health - how well is NICE implementing its own recommendations?; background to NICE’s Citizens Council; ordinary people, extraordinary wisdom; the Citizens Council reports; social value judgements - implementing the Citizens Council report; accountability for reasonableness and the Citizens Council; engaging the American public in setting healthcare priorities; harvesting and publishing patients’ unanswered questions about the effects of treatments; the future of patient and public involvement.