Speakingย at the NICE annual conference in Birmingham, Health Minster Earl Howe said that despite a tough financial year in 2014/15, in 2015/16 the NHS will โreally be up against itโ. The Minister added that this could have benefits as โit forces us to look at waste in the system, at unnecessary expense in the system, areas where quality and safety can go hand in hand with cost effectiveness.โ