Quality standards in development

NICE quality standards are currently being developed for the following topics:

• Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding
• Antenatal care
• Asthma
• Autism in adults
• Bacterial meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia in children and young people
• Caesarean section
• Colorectal cancer
• Drug use disorders
• Epilepsy in adults
• Epilepsy in children
• Hypertension
• Hypertension in pregnancy
• Management of venous thromboembolic diseases
• Nutrition support in adults
• Postnatal care
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Self harm
• Stable angina

See the library of topics for quality standards development.

NB. A number of the quality standards included in the library were initially being developed by the Centre for Clinical Practice and their guideline development groups (GDGs) in parallel with a relevant clinical guideline. However, in line with the proposed update to the healthcare quality standards process guide, the development of these quality standards will now be the responsibility of a separate Topic Expert Group (TEG). This will include topics experts, some of whom will be drawn from the GDG. Where a joint scope was initially produced, the clinical guideline component of the scope will form the basis from which the clinical guideline will be developed and the quality standard component will inform the development of the quality standard, which will be developed following completion of the clinical guideline.

Development

These topics have been prioritised by the National Quality Board and referred to NICE by ministers. The NICE Quality Standards Team develop quality standards in collaboration with Topic Expert Groups.

For more information on the development of NICE quality standards please see 'Developing NICE quality standards: interim process guide'.

Consultation

We are keen to ensure that the development of NICE quality standards is open and transparent and that stakeholders have the opportunity to contribute. We therefore welcome comments on the draft quality standards to test whether they capture what defines a high-quality service for each topic area. We are keen to ensure the quality statements within the quality standard reflect key areas of the care pathway, are important to the service and patients, are feasible to implement, and are markers of high-quality care.

To find out more and and submit your comments, please register as a stakeholder.

General points to consider in the consultation

• How clear the concept and definition of the quality standard is
• How appropriate the statements of quality are
• Whether the description of the quality statement is clear
• Whether the quality statements are measurable
• How easy it will be to collect data for the quality statements
• Whether you can suggest any appropriate healthcare outcomes for each individual quality statement

In particular we are keen to seek your views on:

• Style and format. Could the information be easier to read and follow?
• Which statements presented in the draft are most important and why?
• Whether the quality statements adequately cover the three dimensions of quality: safety, effectiveness and experience.
• Any essential aspects of the care pathway not addressed by the quality standard.
• Any new evidence or relevant research not considered by the Topic Expert Group that may affect the content of the quality standard
• How appropriate and accurate the qualitative statements and quantitative measures are.
• How much a high-quality service could reasonably be expected to achieve for each of the statements (we have assumed a 100% achievement level).
• How useful any of the existing indicators referred to in the quality standard are, and any gaps in the measures included.
• How suitable the explanation of what the statements mean for individual audiences is.
• Whether the quality standards could be changed to better promote equity of access to high-quality services relating to age, disability, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, religion and belief, sexual orientation or socio-economic status. In answering this question, please include details of:
  
  • which particular parts of the quality standards you think affect equity of access
  • why and how you think equity of access is affected.

For more information on these consultations, including details of how to submit your feedback and anticipated consultation dates, please continue to refer to this page.

Social care quality standards

The Health and Social Care Act (2012) sets out a new responsibility for NICE to develop quality standards and other guidance for social care in England.

As part of our preparation for taking on this new role in April 2013, the Department of Health has asked NICE to run a pilot programme for developing social care quality standards using two topics.

More information on this pilot programme of work is available: NICE quality standards in social care

Endorsing NICE Quality Standards

If you would like your organisation to endorse a particular quality standard please email QualityStandards@nice.org.uk to express an interest. NICE is proud to jointly badge quality standards to help to achieve maximum dissemination among relevant audiences.

Those who endorse quality standards must be:

• National patient, carer, voluntary, charity and non-governmental organisations that are run by, or directly reflect the perspectives of patients, service users, carers or client groups, and represent the interests of people whose care is covered by the quality standard in England.
• National organisations that represent the healthcare professionals who provide the services described in the quality standard in England.
• Statutory organisations (an organisation set up by government for a specific purpose) including Ofsted, NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, Health Protection Agency, National Screening Committee, Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, National Patient Safety Agency and Local Government Improvement and Development.