Head injury is the commonest cause of death and disability in people aged 1-40 years in the UK. Each year, 1.4 million people attend emergency departments in England and Wales with a recent head injury. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance onmanaging head injury in 2003 (clinical guideline 4) and updated this in 2007 (clinical guideline 56), which resu...

T research findings from the NHS R&D Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme influence key decision-making bodies such as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Screening Committee (NSC) who rely on HTA outputs to help raise standards of care. HTA findings also help to improve the quality of the service in the NHS indirectly in that they form a key component...

Aims and method The STEPWISE trial (STructured lifestyle Education for People WIth SchizophrEnia, schizoaffective disorder and first episode psychosis) is currently evaluating a lifestyle education programme in addition to usual care. However, it is difficult to define what constitutes 'usual care'. We aimed to define 'usual care' for lifestyle management in people with schizophrenia, schizoaff...

The report The Path of Least Resistance recommended that local antibiotic prescribing information should be based on national guidelines produced under the aegis of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). During the period when NICE guidelines on the management of infectious disease are being developed, interim guidelines are needed in primary care. Draft antibiotic guidance deve...

BACKGROUND The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published guidance for employers on promoting mental wellbeing. A national audit in 2011 found wide variation between English National Health Service (NHS) trusts (organizations providing health care) in the implementation of this guidance, but it is not known whether fuller compliance with the guidance results i...

INTRODUCTION Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a distressing and impairing condition that affects between 0.25% and 4% of children and adolescents. In 2005, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) introduced guidelines for the management of paediatric OCD in the UK. Based on robust evidence, NICE recommended cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and selective serotonin re...

physiology and etiology: summary from the American Geriatrics Society/National Institute on Aging Research Conference on Frailty in Older Adults. Review. J Am Geriatr Soc 2006;54:991–1001. 2 Isaacs B. Rehabilitation for the elderly. Int J Rehabil Med 1984;6:v–vi. 3 Young J, Inouye SK. Delirium in older people. Review. BMJ 2007;334:842–6. 4 Royal College of Physicians. The prevention, diagnosis ...

Background: In the United Kingdom patient experience is being established as a key determinant in informing commissioning decisions and in shaping healthcare delivery. This led to the publication of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance on patient experience in adult National Health Service (NHS) services: improving the experience of care for people using adu...