An Exploration of Patient Involvement in NICE and SMC Appraisals of Breast and Ovarian Cancer Therapies

ISPOR Europe 2022 -- Patient engagement in health technology assessment (HTA) appraisals is important to identify unmet needs, ensure the authorisation of safe and effective treatments and enhance the implementation of patient-centered care leading to better health outcomes. England's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) have formal processes to collect input from patient groups during their appraisals of new technologies. Specifically, NICE reports the experiences of patient experts/representatives, while SMC can convene a Patient and Clinician Engagement (PACE) meeting if requested by sponsors. These processes potentially give patients a stronger voice in HTA decision-making. Concerns have been raised by patient groups about how their perspectives and priorities are recorded, leading to uncertainties about their impact on recommendations. The aim of this study was to investigate how patient engagement is incorporated in NICE and SMC decision-making with respect to its value, impact, changes over time and any associations with positive/negative recommendations.