NICE’s social value judgements about equity in health and health care

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) routinely publishes details of the evidence and reasoning underpinning its recommendations, including its social value judgements. To date, however, NICE‟s social value judgements relating to equity in the distribution of health and health care have been less specific and systematic than those relating to cost-effectiveness in the pursuit of improved sum total population health. NICE takes a pragmatic, case-based approach to developing its principles of social value judgement, drawing on the cumulative experience of its advisory bodies in making decisions that command respect among its broad range of stakeholders. This paper aims to describe the social value judgements about equity in health and health care that NICE has hitherto used to guide its decision making. To do this, we review both the general social value judgements reported in NICE guidance on methodology and the case-specific social value judgements reported in NICE guidance about particular health care technologies and public health interventions.