Commentary population screening in the NHS: A systematic pathway from evidence to policy formulation

Abstract

In 1994 the Chief Medical Officer of England set out a framework for the evaluation and implementation of national screening programmes in the National Health Service (NHS). The framework highlighted the importance of the link between research evidence and the formulation of national policy. It also stressed the necessity for monitoring, evaluation and quality control as integral components for all new screening programmes. There is now an established link between the Health Technology Assessment programme of the NHS Research and Development Directorate and the NHS's new policy advisory group, the National Screening Committee. The objective of this systematic approach is to ensure that screening programmes are not introduced into the NHS unless there is robust evidence that benefit outweighs harm. The Population Screening Panel, an advisory panel of the NHS Health Technology Assessment programme, has the responsibility for determining priorities in research on proposed or existing population screening programmes. The National Screening Committee has a remit to consider this research evidence and to advise government ministers and the NHS on the appropriateness of the implementation, development and modification of national screening programmes. The example of prostatic cancer screening is presented as an illustration of how the NHS is developing a systematic approach to the implementation of screening policy based upon the strategic commissioning of research evidence. © 1998, Oxford University Press.