Scottish Medicines Consortium celebrates 25 years of providing advice on medicines in Scotland
Since 2001, SMC has played an important role in helping NHSScotland make informed decisions about newly licensed medicines, supporting timely access to treatments for people across Scotland.
Before SMC was established, 14 individual local Area Drug and Therapeutics Committees advised their respective NHS boards which products should be accepted for use in their area. The introduction of SMC provided a single point of advice, reducing duplication of work and variation in availability of medicines across NHS Scotland known at the time as “postcode prescribing”.
Over the past 25 years, SMC has:
- published advice on over 2000 medicines with the key aim of ensuring that people across Scotland receive timely and equitable access to medicines that deliver real value
- engaged with over 800 patient group representatives to ensure the patient voice is at the heart of decision making
- consulted with over 1,000 clinicians across Scotland and beyond to understand the potential impacts of new medicines.
SMC’s work has helped ensure people across Scotland can access innovative new medicines while supporting the effective use of NHS resources. Its approach has continued to develop in response to advances in medicine, changing patient needs and an increasingly complex healthcare landscape.
I am delighted to be celebrating the work of SMC over the last 25 years. As SMC chair and a clinician working in NHS Highland, I see how valued the SMC advice is. I look forward to continuing our collaborative work to support the introduction of new medicines for the benefit of patients.
Dr Robert Peel, SMC Chair
To mark the occasion, invited guests will gather for a special anniversary event celebrating SMC’s achievements and exploring the future of health technology assessment.
As healthcare continues to evolve, SMC’s priority remains supporting evidence-based decision making and helping people across Scotland benefit from access to effective new medicines.