New technology should be paid for ‘like medicines’, says NICE chief executive

The purchase of approved digital products and services used for diagnosing and treating NHS patients should be reimbursed centrally, the chief executive of the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence has told HSJ.

Sam Roberts said this was “the minimum a citizen should expect from a digitised health service” and that she was determined “to get that into the [government’s 10-Year Health] plan”.

She described the different financial arrangements for NICE-approved digital products and services as “outrageous”, and said they should instead be treated “like medicines”.

In a wide-ranging interview with HSJ, the NICE CEO also said:

She wanted NICE to “lead the charge” in determining which digital innovations the NHS should adopt

NICE would issue more guidance on which medicines it had previously recommended should no longer be used

A new approach was needed to deal with the impending wave of expensive “preventive medicines” such as the new wave of weight-loss drugs.

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Source: HSJ, 3 June 2025