Consultant's catch-up

Well the good news is that a host of national organisations such as the NHS Litigation Authority and National Patient Safety Agency are joining the Healthcare Commission in the interest they pay to how local organisations implement NICE guidance. The DH, NPSA and NICE launched the Acutely Ill Patient guidance together in November. The Consultants have also supported the National Treatment Agency regional conferences recently. This all reinforces the message that services should be in line with, or moving towards, the national standards set by NICE. The 2006 guide, 'How to implement NICE guidance,' is accepted as being an effective basis for systems within Trusts to show they are handling the guidance well, gathering evidence of implementation and reporting responsibly to their Boards. Another phenomenon of 2007 is that PCTs are keen to demonstrate that Trusts serving their populations are compliant and that any risks are identified. The difficulty with this is that requests for information may come at all times of the year and from all quarters, sometimes from people within the same organisation who do not realise colleagues are making simultaneous requests on similar issues. Here are some good strategies I have encountered recently:

• A hospital trust and PCT, agreeing a year ahead, a manageable number of audits requiring information from the service and related acute and community providers - all this agreed in a new Guidance Sub Group of the area Priorities Forum
• Use of Datix or other such information systems to handle the receipt, distribution and review of national reports and guidance, and a policy that draws these matters together for implementation strategies and Board and external reporting
• The start of discussions to create a common proforma for local governance related information requests

A new county wide NICE implementation group as a focal point for agreeing reporting processes and tackling complex implementation matters jointly.

We are hoping to represent these examples in more detail on the shared learning database where there are now over 70 case studies captured.

2008 Strategy

The Implementation Consultants had a pre-Christmas meeting to review our 2007 visit strategy and plan ahead for 2008. During 2007 we completed productive visits with local authorities, clinical networks, and ambulance trusts bringing back a wealth of feedback to the organisation. We also kept in touch with many of the acute and mental health trusts in our patches.
From January we are meeting with all Directors of Commissioning or equivalent in PCTs. From April we aim to prioritise Heads of Maternity Units and Directors of Children's Services in response to and anticipation of a considerable amount of relevant NICE guidance. Having met with a few Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees during 2007 we are keen to extend the invitation to others across England to support the awareness and use of guidance in these important settings. We look forward to seeing you in one of these contexts or in our ongoing contact with NHS organisations and networks.

Val.moore@nice.org.uk

Fieldteam@nice.org.uk