The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care. Documents describing the methods and process employed by NICE are available from the Institute's website (available at www.nice.org.uk specifically the methods guide is at https://www.nice.org.uk/article/pmg9/chapter/Foreword).

The Decision Support Unit assists the technical team within the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation (CHTE) at NICE with meeting the information needs of the appraisal committees. This is achieved by:

— Providing technical support;

— Advancing methodological development;

— Providing educational support.

The Decision Support Unit will be a multidisciplinary team of people, expert in advice, educational support and high-quality analyses to decision makers methods of health technology assessment and capable of providing expert often within very tight deadlines.