Ten contracts have been awarded by the NIHR to centres of excellence for TARs
News release from NETSCC, HTA
18 January 2010
Ten contracts have been awarded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to centres of excellence for Technology Assessment Reviews (TARs).
Three new centres of expertise in Technology Assessment Reviews (TARs) join seven existing NIHR TAR centres. TARs provide a reliable and rigorous evidence assessment of the benefits, harms and costs of particular healthcare treatments for those who plan, provide or receive care in the NHS.
TARs are commissioned to meet the urgent needs of national NHS decision-making bodies and policy customers, such as the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). TARs are most commonly produced to inform NICE Appraisal Committee guidance on the use of new and existing medicines, treatments and procedures within the NHS in England and Wales.
TARs are currently prepared by seven specialist independent academic groups based at Universities in the UK. By April 2011, the contract will extend to include ten centres including academic and commercial evidence review centres. Each TAR team is contracted to deliver an agreed number of high quality assessment reports to strict timetables in order to meet policy customer needs. These contracts are managed by the HTA programme on behalf of the NIHR. All TARs undergo a rigorous process of peer and editorial review and are published in the Health Technology Assessment journal series visit www.hta.ac.uk/project/htapubs.asp
The current TAR teams are:
• NE Scotland HTA Group, University of Aberdeen
• West Midlands HTA Collaboration, University of Birmingham
• Peninsula Technology Assessment Group, University of Exeter
• Liverpool Reviews and Implementation Group, University of Liverpool
• School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield
• Southampton Health Technology Assessments Centre, University of Southampton
• CRD and Centre for Health Economics, University of York
From 1st April 2011 the current teams will be joined by:
• BMJ Evidence Centre
• Health Sciences Research Unit, University of Warwick
• Kleijnen Systematic Reviews Limited
For more details on NICE TARs and the TAR teams visit www.hta.ac.uk/about/customers/NICE
Notes for editors
1. The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme commissions research about the effectiveness, costs, and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS. It is the largest NIHR programme and publishes the results of its research in the Health Technology Assessment journal, with over 530 issues published to date. The journal’s 2009 Impact Factor (6.91) ranked it in the top 10% of medical and health-related journals. All issues are available for download free of charge from the website, www.hta.ac.uk
2. The National Institute for Health Research provides the framework through which the research staff and research infrastructure of the NHS in England is positioned, maintained and managed as a national research facility. The NIHR provides the NHS with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct first-class research funded by the Government and its partners alongside high-quality patient care, education and training. Its aim is to support outstanding individuals (both leaders and collaborators), working in world class facilities (both NHS and university), conducting leading edge research focused on the needs of patients. www.nihr.ac.uk
Contact details
Naomi Williams, Programme Manager (Communications)
Telephone: 02380 595 646, Email: N.E.Williams@southampton.ac.uk
Kelly Waterman, Assistant Programme Manager (Communications)
Telephone: 02380 597 376, Email: k.waterman@southampton.ac.uk
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