There are no statutory obligations upon the Centre of Evidence-based Purchasing (CEP) to consider the outcomes of product assessments by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in its evaluations of medical devices.
However, the Centre of Evidence-based Purchasing works closely with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to ensure that respective work-programmes complement one another and build on each other’s efforts. For example, if NICE issues some clinical guidelines around a particular disease or technology, CEP can support that guidance by doing a piece of work on the specific products that support that guideline, perhaps by reviewing the market, or providing the national health service with comparative specifications to compare the products that are available.