The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has today (19 September) accredited the guidance production processes of following organisations: the British HIV Association (BHIVA), The Resuscitation Council (UK), and the Royal College of Pathologists.

Making today's announcements Professor David Haslam, Chair of the NICE Accreditation Advisory Committee said: "NICE accreditation provides guidance producers with a real opportunity to have a positive impact on the health of the population as they must clearly demonstrate that they are implementing rigorous processes to develop guidance.

"I would like to congratulate all three organisations on reaching excellent standards of guideline development. They can now proudly display the Accreditation Mark on any new and updated clinical guidelines produced under the accredited process - a mark that informs health and social care staff that the guidance has been developed to a quality process and reassures them that it will help them deliver the highest standards of patient care."

British HIV Association (BHIVA)

Established in 1995, the BHIVA is a charity that acts as a national advisory body to professionals and to other organisations on all aspects of HIV care. BHIVA also provides a national platform for HIV care and contributes to national and local committees dealing with HIV care.

The BHIVA has been accredited for its processes to produce UK national guidelines.

The NICE Accreditation Advisory Committee found the process used by the BHIVA to produce UK national guidelines for the management of HIV infection met all 25 of the accreditation criteria.

Professor Jane Anderson, Chair of the British HIV Association said: “The British HIV Association is committed to providing excellence in the care of those living with and affected by HIV.

"HIV medicine is a rapidly evolving field. We produce guidance to ensure best clinical practice in the key areas of HIV medicine in the UK and we are delighted to receive this recognition from NICE."

The Resuscitation Council (UK)

The Resuscitation Council (UK) is a charity that aims to save lives by improving the education of healthcare professionals and the public in relation to resuscitation. Part of the work of the Resuscitation Council (UK) is the production and dissemination of resuscitation guidelines.

The Resuscitation Council (UK) has been accredited for the production processes used for its 2010 Resuscitation Guidelines with the NICE Accreditation Advisory Committee finding the processes used to develop the guidelines "rigorous, transparent and systematic".

Sarah Mitchell, Director, Resuscitation Council (UK) said: "We are delighted with the accreditation decision. It follows months of hard work and dedication from the team. We are confident that the results will lead to a direct improvement in the quality of patient care."

The Royal College of Pathologists

The Royal College of Pathologists, a registered charity established in 1962, is a professional membership organisation committed to setting and maintaining professional standards and to promoting excellence in the teaching and practice of pathology. The Working Group on Cancer Services was set up by the Royal College of Pathologists Specialty Advisory Committee on Histopathology. It commissions and publishes a series of guidelines on histopathology (cancer datasets) reporting to define minimum standards for the reporting of common cancers. The group also coordinates the writing of tissue pathways for non-cancer samples, which follows the same production process as for cancer datasets.

The Royal College of Pathologists has been accredited for the production of both Cancer Datasets and for Tissue Pathways.

Although a decision not to accredit the production of Cancer Datasets and Tissue Pathways was taken in October 2011 the Royal College updated its process documents following feedback from its first application.

The NICE Accreditation Advisory Committee found that the guidance producer now meets all 25 of the criteria for accreditation. As a result they join the British Thoracic Society and the British Transplantation Society as among the first guidance producers to successfully reapply for accreditation.

Quality standards

The accredited guidelines from these organisations can now be considered as part of the development of NICE quality standards.

NICE quality standards are derived from NICE guidance and other guidance accredited by the NICE Accreditation Programme and are central to supporting the Government's vision for an NHS focused on delivering the best possible outcomes for patients, as detailed in the 2010 NHS White Paper Equity and Excellence - Liberating the NHS.

ENDS

Editor's notes

1. The final accreditation report s are available at https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/accreditation/accreditation-decisions

2. NICE's Accreditation Programme verifies the most robustly-produced guidance available to health and social care professionals, enabling them to drive quality outcomes that are among the best in the world. It uses rigorous assessment processes based on international standards for guideline development produced by the Appraisal of Guidelines Research & Evaluation collaboration (AGREE).

3. The Accreditation Mark is a registered trademark of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. It appears next to titles within search results on the NHS Evidence portal to denote those information sources that have passed the criteria for producing high-quality information.

4. Provided it is relevant to a search, information from accredited sources features on NHS Evidence in the top results, with the Accreditation Mark clearly displayed.

5. An accredited organisation can display the Accreditation Mark publicly as a sign of its high standard achieved in developing information.

6. Accreditation lasts for five years.

About NICE

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance and standards on the promotion of good health and the prevention and treatment of ill health.

NICE produces guidance in three areas of health:

• public health - guidance on the promotion of good health and the prevention of ill health for those working in the NHS, local authorities and the wider public and voluntary sector.
• health technologies - guidance on the use of new and existing medicines, treatments, medical technologies (including devices and diagnostics) and procedures within the NHS.
• clinical practice - guidance on the appropriate treatment and care of people with specific diseases and conditions within the NHS.

NICE produces standards for patient care:

• quality standards - these reflect the very best in high quality patient care, to help healthcare practitioners and commissioners of care deliver excellent services.
• Quality and Outcomes Framework - NICE develops the clinical and health improvement indicators in the QOF, the Department of Health scheme which rewards GPs for how well they care for patients.

NICE provides advice and support on putting NICE guidance and standards into practice through its implementation programme, and it collates and accredits high quality health guidance, research and information to help health professionals deliver the best patient care through NHS Evidence.