NHS Chief Executive Sir David Nicholson will require CCGs to state which NICE-approved treatments are available on their formularies.

In a letter to all NHS organisations, Nicholson linked this requirement to the NICE ‘compliance regime’ outlined in the Government’s innovation strategy.

His response follows a public argument between NICE and the NHS Confederation over delays in the availability of NICE-approved drugs.

In an online article, NICE Chairman Sir Michael Rawlins criticised NHS trusts for “trying to pretend” that they were capable of rethinking NICE decisions.

David Stout, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, responded that “every NHS organisation has a finite amount of money available” and that the NHS needed to be “open” about the “trade-offs” forced on it by economic pressures.

Nicholson’s letter attempts to bring together both sides of the argument by stating that PCTs and CCGs must make a public, online statement of which drugs on their formularies are NICE-approved.

The letter noted that local formularies should not “duplicate NICE assessments or challenge an appraisal recommendation”, and that addressing variations in compliance with NICE recommendations was important for the NHS.

However, it stopped short of explicitly banning local commissioners from failing to make any NICE-approved drug available. This is already a legal requirement – but NHS rationing is a sensitive issue, given the current strict cost controls.

Local formularies will be required to include “clear, simple and transparent” online lists of their NICE-approved drugs by 1 April 2013.

An early detection of cancer community project in Lincolnshire has been awarded a £50,000 NHS Innovation Challenge Prize by the Department of Health.

Julie Grimmer, in partnership with NHS North East Lincolnshire, was awarded the accolade after her Community Engagement Project led to a substantial increase in two week wait referrals.

The project involves the use of 50 volunteers who act as agents in helping people understand, discuss and seek help for the early symptoms of cancer.

The community-led model combines social marketing, community involvement and action and has seen the uptake of bowel screening increase 57% against the national average of 30% and cervical screening up by 12% in the last three years compared to a 7.4% regional increase.

Dr Dean Harmse from Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust was also awarded £50,000 after his project reduced histopathology laboratory turnaround times.

This was achieved by changes in workflow and other systems which saw the backlog of cases reduced from 500 to zero over three months, whilst increasing seven day turnaround times from 38% to 87%. Ten day turnaround times also increased from 48% to 94%.

Finally, Dr David Swann – in partnership with NHS East Riding of Yorkshire – was awarded a highly commended status for designing a new 21^st century nurse’s bag to help control infection.

The applicant designed a new type of bag which includes integrated treatment space, is easy to clean and is highly functional. It also improves patient safety, productivity and the patient’s experience.

The innovation prizes are part of the DH’s wider innovation strategy designed to support the creation of innovation within the NHS. Up to £1m of prize money can be awarded for each of the challenges.

The UK Government is to provide a research portal offering open access to data from publicly-funded research.

The new Gateway to Research portal is intended to promote collaboration between the life sciences industries and the academic and voluntary sectors.

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales will help to develop the £2m project and ensure that it effectively supports innovation.

The working group responsible for the portal was set up following the publication in December 2011 of the Government’s innovation strategy, which emphasised the need for open access to research data.

David Willetts (pictured), Minister for Universities and Science, said: “Giving people the right to roam freely over publicly funded research will usher in a new era of academic discovery and collaboration.”

He added that the project would “develop new online channels that enable researchers to collaborate and share data and build new research partnerships”.

Jimmy Wales will provide advice on the format and data standards for the research to be available via the portal, which will include both published papers and underlying data.

The funding of the portal has still to be decided, but may involve the funders of research paying the costs or the publishers paying after an initial closed period during which they can recover the costs.

Open access is already benefiting the public and voluntary sectors, according to two recent reports from the Open Access Implementation Group (which consists of several life science research organisations).

In particular, the public sector could save £26m in access fees and £2.6m in time costs, while improving its analytical and decision-making powers.

The medtech industry must focus on meeting the cost-efficiency and health outcome needs of health systems through a value-based innovation strategy, according to a new report from industry association Eucomed.

The European medical technology industry association launched its five-year industry strategy report ‘Contract for a Healthy Future’ at the MedTech Forum in Brussels, outlining the industry’s role in guiding healthcare systems towards a sustainable future.

Eucomed called on the medtech industry to change its business model and mindset, but also called on healthcare payers and policy-makers to embrace the concept of value-based innovation.

A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), sponsored by Eucomed, opened the MedTech Forum. ‘Future-proofing Western Europe’s healthcare’ examined how healthcare systems need to change in order to square the circle of growing demand and tighter budgets.

The EIU report argued that Europe’s healthcare systems need to become more efficient, effective, integrated and informed. The medtech industry can support these developments with evidence-based technologies – providing not just the technologies but the evidence base to support their implementation.

The Eucomed report emphasised that the medtech industry needs to change and will deliver and demonstrate solutions to meet the cost-efficiency and health outcome needs of payers and policymakers in order to ensure sustainable, accessible healthcare and healthy ageing for the population.

However, Eucomed emphasised, other healthcare stakeholders must also reconsider their role: for value-based innovation to have full impact, policy-makers must develop better cost models and abandon silo-based budgeting, while payers must prioritise value – in terms of productivity and efficiency – rather than price.

“We have to rethink our healthcare systems in Europe and steer them back onto a sustainable path,” said Eucomed Chairman Guy Lebeau (pictured below). “As an industry, innovation has always been at the heart of what we do. But the future will demand a different kind of innovative thinking from all stakeholders in our economies. We will take the first step and deliver value-based innovations that deliver a demonstrable positive return on investment in healthy life years for citizens.”

John Wilkinson, Chief Executive of Eucomed, added: “It is short-sighted to cut back on medical technologies when health budgets are squeezed, especially when you consider that 70% of health spending is consumed by personnel and hospital organisation. Compare that with medical technology which accounts for less than 5%.

“If the industry delivers its promise and enables healthcare systems to become more productive and efficient, governments should reward us and invest in the right technologies.”

More information on these ideas can be found on a dedicated website, Reforming Healthcare in Europe, launched by Eucomed.

Eucomed represents 22,500 designers, manufacturers and suppliers of medical technologies. SMEs make up more than 80% of this sector.

Guy Lebeau