The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety has published three new templates designed to support the written input of patients, carers and clinicians in joint clinical assessments, or JCAs.
The announcement was published on 14 September 2026.
Purpose of the Templates
The Commission states that the templates are intended to facilitate written input from patients, carers and clinicians during joint clinical assessments.
They were developed following consultation with stakeholder organisations participating in the HTA Stakeholder Network.
Three New Templates
The publication identifies three resources:
Templates for patients and carers to support written input during the scoping phase of joint clinical assessments;
Templates for clinical experts to support written input during the scoping phase of joint clinical assessments;
a comment form for patients, carers and clinicians to provide input on the joint clinical assessment report.
Supporting Stakeholder Participation in JCA
The new templates create a more structured route for incorporating stakeholder perspectives into the JCA process.
Patients and carers can contribute information relevant to the scoping phase, while clinical experts can provide their professional input at the same stage. A separate comment form allows these groups to provide feedback on the resulting JCA report.
Role of the HTA Stakeholder Network
The Commission notes that the templates were developed after consultation with stakeholder organisations in the HTA Stakeholder Network.
This highlights the role of organised stakeholder engagement in shaping practical tools used within the EU joint clinical assessment framework.
Impact on Health Technology Developers and HTA Stakeholders
For health technology developers, HTA teams, clinical experts, patient organisations and regulatory professionals, the publication is relevant because it provides standardised tools for stakeholder contribution during important stages of the JCA process.
Stakeholders should pay particular attention to:
patient and carer input during JCA scoping;
clinical expert input during JCA scoping;
structured commenting on JCA reports;
stakeholder engagement processes;
evidence and perspectives relevant to assessment scope;
interaction with the EU HTA framework;
internal preparation for JCA-related stakeholder activities.
For organisations involved in EU health technology assessment, the key message is that stakeholder input is being supported through more structured templates, helping patients, carers and clinicians contribute consistently during both the scoping and report-commenting stages of joint clinical assessments.
