Consultant's catch-up

After a varied career across the NHS, from general management in an acute hospital, quality development in a Health Authority and primary care development in a PCT, I've spent the last few years in change management programmes in medicines management and human resource systems. Having just joined NICE as the new Implementation Consultant for the South West, I've a steep learning curve ahead, but arrived at a time of monumental change - the NHS is 60, we have a new NHS Constitution, a new Strategy for Primary & Community Care and the Darzi report has arrived!

Not that my arrival in July was prompted by Lord Darzi's recommendations, but there is no doubt that NICE will see significant development and expansion over the coming months and years. Recognition perhaps of the high esteem that NICE is held in nationally.
So what's in store? Well, there is plenty of information available on our website (a summary of the Darzi recommendations can be found here) but there are some clear messages, especially regarding the delivery of increased quality, the promotion of wellbeing and illness prevention and patient rights and responsibilities (underpinned by the new NHS Constitution). The following projects are of direct relevance to NICE.

• A new National Quality Board which will offer transparent advice to Ministers on what the priorities should be for clinical standard setting by NICE.
• An NHS Evidence service where NHS staff will be able to access, through a single web-based portal, authoritative clinical and non-clinical evidence and best practice.
• All patients will receive drugs and treatments approved by NICE where the clinician recommends them, and NICE appraisals processes will be speeded up.
• The Quality and Outcomes Framework will be improved to provide better incentives for maintaining good health as well as good care.
• The establishment of a NICE Fellows programme to further clinical professional development and work proactively with local and national clinical communities.

We fervently hope that the guidance and support tools we provide will also help you implement the aims and objectives of this new agenda and the fundamental reforms built into the Strategy for Primary and Community Care (which considers the shaping of services by local people, the promotion of healthy lives [please see our latest guidance on the use of Rimonabant for treating obesity for example], improving quality and new models of care delivery to suit local need).

Together with the continuation of our established programme of support to all our colleagues, it's going to be a busy, yet invigorating, time.

Stephen.judge@nice.org.uk

Contact an implementation consultant in your area:

Implementationconsultants@nice.org.uk