Latest volunteering opportunities as a patient representative for NICE

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is an independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health.

“NICE is committed to involving patients, carers and the public in the development of its guidance and other products. By involving the very people for whom the guidance will be relevant, we put the needs and preferences of patients and the public at the heart of our work.”

> The draft NICE quality standard for Colorectal Cancer is now available for consultation. The consultation period will end at 5pm on 22 March 2012. Check the NICE website here.

> The draft NICE quality standard for Stable Angina is now available for consultation. The consultation period will end at 5pm on 22 March 2012. Check the NICE website here.

NICE is currently looking for applications from patients/carers and lay people to sit on multidisciplinary groups who develop NICE guidance:

* The PPIP and the National Clinical Guidelines Centre are looking for applications from patients and carers to be part of the group that will develop a clinical guideline on Head Injury: triage, assessment, investigation and early management of head injury in infants, children and adults (partial update). The group will carry out a partial update of ‘Head Injury’, NICE clinical guideline 56. Members of this group will play a key role in making sure that the views of patients and their carers and their experiences and interests inform the development of the guideline and recommendations to the NHS. For full details about the role and the commitment involved please see the advert for this recruitment.
The deadline for applications is 30 March 2012.

* The PPIP and the NICE Internal Clinical Guidelines programme are looking for applications from patients and carers to be part of the group that will develop a clinical guideline for the care of people with Dyspepsia/GORD. The clinical guideline will update and replace the current clinical guideline Dyspepsia (CG17). Members of this group will play a key role in making sure that the views of patients and their carers and their experiences and interests inform the development of the guideline and recommendations to the NHS. The deadline for applications is 22 March 2012.

* The NICE is looking for applications from lay people (age 16 +) with an interest in improving health through changing behaviour – to become a community member of the group developing public health guidance on this topic. This guidance will be looking at the effectiveness of individual-level interventions aimed at changing behaviour to improve health, specifically in relation to smoking, alcohol, diet, physical activity and sex. There will be a particular emphasis on how to sustain behaviour change, in particular understanding why and when a behaviour change becomes a habit. Community members of this group will play a key role in making sure that the views, experiences and interests of target groups and the wider public inform the development of the guidance and its recommendations to the NHS, local authorities and wider audiences. For full details about the role and the commitment involved please see the advert for this recruitment. The deadline for applications is 22 March 2012.

* The PPIP and the Quality Systems team are looking for applications from patients, parents and carers to sit on the group developing a quality standard on epilepsy in adults, children and young people. This quality standard will be developed from the NICE Clinical Guideline on Epilepsy (CG137). Lay members of the topic expert group will play a key role in making sure that patients’, parents’ and carers’ views, experiences and interests inform the quality standard’s development and its recommendations to the NHS. For full details about the role and the commitment involved please see the advert for this recruitment. The deadline for applications is 28 March 2012.

* The PPIP and the Quality Systems team are looking for applications from patients and carers to sit on the group developing a quality standard on Hypertension. The group will also develop measures or indicators for potential inclusion within the Commissioning Outcomes Framework (COF) and the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). Quality standards and the COF and QOF are important tools for improving health care. Lay members of the topic expert group (TEG) will play a key role in making sure that patients’ and carers’ views, experiences and interests inform the quality standard’s development and its recommendations to the NHS. For full details about the role and the commitment involved please see the advert for this recruitment. The deadline for applications is 27 March 2012.

* The NICE Technology Appraisal Committee develops national guidance on the use of new and established health technologies (such as medicines, therapies, diagnostic techniques and medical devices) by the NHS. Committee members include academics, healthcare professionals, representatives of the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries, NHS managers and lay members. The Technology Appraisal Committee is divided into four branches, committees A, B, C and D. Each branch has three lay members. NICE currently has two vacancies for a lay member to join committee D. Meetings of committee D are held in Central Manchester. Lay members of the committee play a key role in making sure that patient, carer and public views, experiences and interests inform the development of NICE guidance. All members need to attend regular meetings, which are held in public, and read papers including summaries of research evidence. For full details about the role and the commitment involved please see the advert for this recruitment.

For more information on these latest opportunities for patient, carer and public involvement at NICE, and how you can get involved with their work, please visit and apply for positions through the NICE website here.

The latest NICE Patient and Public Involvement Update for March 2012 can be found here:

NICE PPIP update - March 2012 (140.19 kB)