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Non-UK purchasers will have to pay a small fee for post and packing. For European countries the cost is £2 per monograph and for the rest of the world £3 per monograph.You can order HTA monographs from our Despatch Agents:-fax (with credit card or official purchase order) -post (with credit card or official purchase order or cheque) -phone during office hours (credit card only).Additionally the HTA website allows you either to pay securely by credit card or to print out your order and then post or fax it. NHS libraries can subscribe free of charge. Public libraries can subscribe at a very reduced cost of £100 for each volume (normally comprising 30-40 titles). The commercial subscription rate is £300 per volume. Please see our website for details. Subscriptions can only be purchased for the current or forthcoming volume. Contact details are as follows: Payment methods Paying by chequeIf you pay by cheque, the cheque must be in pounds sterling, made payable to Direct Mail Works Ltd and drawn on a bank with a UK address. Paying by credit cardThe following cards are accepted by phone, fax, post or via the website ordering pages: Delta, Eurocard, Mastercard, Solo, Switch and Visa. We advise against sending credit card details in a plain email. Paying by official purchase orderYou can post or fax these, but they must be from public bodies (i.e. NHS or universities) within the UK. We cannot at present accept purchase orders from commercial companies or from outside the UK. How do I get a copy of HTA on CD?Please use the form on the HTA website (www.hta.ac.uk/htacd.htm). Or contact Direct Mail Works (see contact details above) by email, post, fax or phone. HTA on CD is currently free of charge worldwide.The website also provides information about the HTA Programme and lists the membership of the various committees. HTA Declared competing interests of authors:John Gabbay is Director of the NCCHTA but is not directly involved in setting research agenda. He is also a member of the editorial board for Health Technology Assessment, although was not involved in the editorial process for this report. JG is a member of the consumer involvement steering group at the NCCHTA and also is a member of INVOLVE, which promotes public involvement in the NHS, public health and social care research. Ruairidh Milne works for the NCCHTA, supporting the NHS HTA Diagnostics and Screening Panel in setting its HTA R&D agenda. He is also a member of the editorial board for Health Technology Assessment, although he was not involved in the editorial process for this report. Sandy Oliver is an external advisor for consumer involvement at the NCCHTA. Ken Stein is also a member of the editorial board for Health Technology Assessment, although he was not involved in the editorial process for this report. Published April 2004This report should be referenced as follows:Oliver S, Clarke-Jones L, Rees R, Milne R, Buchanan P, Gabbay J, et al. NHS R&D HTA ProgrammeT he research findings from the NHS R&D Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme direct...

Objective To describe the development of a multidimensional conceptual framework capable of drawing out the implications for policy and practice of what is known about public involvement in research agenda setting.Background Public involvement in research is growing in western and developing countries. There is a need to learn from collective experience and a diverse literature of research, policy documents and reflective reports.

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Objectives To describe the methods used for involving consumers in a needs-led health research programme, and to discuss facilitators, barriers and goals.Design In a short action research pilot study, we involved consumers in all stages of the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme: identifying and prioritizing research topics; commissioning and reporting research; and communicating openly about the programme. We drew on the experience of campaigning, self-help and patients' representative groups, national charities, health information services, consumer researchers and journalists for various tasks. We explored consumer literature as a potential source for research questions, and as a route for disseminating research ®ndings. These innovations were complemented by training, one-to-one support and discussion. A re¯ective approach included interviews with consumers, co-ordinating sta , external observers and other programme contributors, document analysis and multidisciplinary discussion (including consumers) amongst programme contributors.Results When seeking research topics, face-to-face discussion with a consumer group was more productive than scanning consumer research reports or contacting consumer health information services. Consumers were willing and able to play active roles as panel members in re®ning and prioritizing topics, and in commenting on research plans and reports. Training programmes for consumer involvement in service planning were readily adapted for a research programme. Challenges to be overcome were cultural divides, language barriers and a need for skill development amongst consumers and others. Involving consumers highlighted a need for support and training for all contributors to the programme.Conclusions Consumers made unique contributions to the HTA Programme. Their involvement exposed processes which needed further thought and development. Consumer involvement bene®ted from the National Co-ordinating Centre for Health Technology Assessment (NCCHTA) sta being comfortable with innovation,

There was a large variation between reviews in the exhaustiveness of the literature searches. CCTR was the single best source of RCTs. Additional database searching retrieved only a small percentage of extra trials. Contacting authors and manufacturers to find unpublished trials appeared to be a more effective method of obtaining the additional better quality trials.

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Objectives: The European network on Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) aimed to produce tangible and practical results to be used in the various phases of health technology assessment and to establish a framework and processes to support this. This article presents the background, objectives, and organization of EUnetHTA, which involved a total of sixty-four partner organizations.Methods: Establishing an effective and sustainable structure for a transnational network involved many managerial, policy, and methodological tools, according to the objective of each task or Work Package. Transparency in organization, financial transactions, and decision making was a key principle in the management of the Project as was the commitment to appropriately involve stakeholders.Results: EUnetHTA activities resulted in a clear management and governance structure, efficient partnership, and transnational cooperation. The Project developed a model for sustainable continuation of the EUnetHTA Collaboration.Conclusions: The EUnetHTA Project achieved its goals by producing a suite of practical tools, a strong network, and plans for continuing the work in a sustainable EUnetHTA Collaboration that facilitates and promotes the use of HTA at national and regional levels. Responsiveness to political developments in Europe should be balanced with maintaining a high level of ambition to promote independent, evidence-based information and well-tested tools for best practice based on a strong network of HTA institutions.