2001/039 Healthcare professionals and patients to collaborate on the development

NICE 2001/ 039

5 December 2001

Press release

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), in partnership with the Royal Colleges and a number of patient/carer organisations has today (5 December 2001) launched six National Collaborating Centres at Clinical Excellence 2001, the Institute's annual conference.

The National Collaborating Centres will develop clinical guidelines and audit advice for the NHS in England and Wales, placing healthcare professionals and patients at the heart of the decision-making process. Each Centre has the resources, expertise and experience to develop 'best practice' guidance which will help healthcare professionals and patients make informed choices about appropriate healthcare.

The six Centres are the National Collaborating Centres for:

• Acute Care - based at the Royal College of Surgeons of England
• Chronic Conditions - based at the Royal College of Physicians
• Nursing & Supportive Care - based at the RCN Institute
• Mental Health - jointly led by the British Psychological Society and the Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Primary Care - based at the Royal College of General Practitioners
• Women & Children's Health - based at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Each Centre involves a number of partner organisations which represent both healthcare professionals and patients - for example, MIND, the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, and the Manic Depressive Fellowship are partners in the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health.

NICE has also established two units to support the work of the National Collaborating Centres.

• The National Guidelines & Audit Patient Involvement Unit (PIU) will provide advice on patient/carer involvement, and support and training for patients and carers involved in guideline development.
• The National Guidelines Support & Research Unit (NGSRU) will provide advice on methodological issues, training and education for the Collaborating Centres, and undertake research to increase understanding of methodological aspects of guidelines.

Speaking at today's launch, Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, Chairman of NICE, said: "Today is an important day for the NHS. I am extremely pleased to announce a collaborative project of this scale. NICE guidance provides a clear, single source of information that supports health professionals and patients make informed choices about appropriate healthcare on a day-to-day basis. This health care is increasingly delivered in a multidisciplinary setting, therefore it is vital that multidisciplinary teams that include both health professionals and patients are at the centre of their development."

Professor Peter Littlejohns, Clinical Director of NICE, said: "It is essential that healthcare professionals and patients are intimately involved in the development of clinical guideline and audit materials. We look forward to working closely with the National Collaborating Centres to ensure that the guidance NICE issues is both evidence-based and of real value to health professionals and patients, in England and Wales."

Professor Peter Bell, Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons where the National Collaborating Centre for Acute Care is based, said: "The Royal College of Surgeons welcomes the establishment of the National Collaborating Centre for Acute Care based here at the College. The Centre makes a positive contribution to the College's objective of promoting the highest possible standards of care for patients. We look forward to working with our partners from the Royal College of Anaesthetists, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and the Faculty of Dental Surgery and supported by the director Jacqueline Dutchak."

Dr Mike Pearson, Director of the National Collaborating Centre for Chronic Conditions and Director of the RCP's Clinical Effectiveness and Evaluation Unit where the Centre will be based, said: "We are delighted to be chosen to take on this important body of work. Medicine today is about a team of health professionals working together with patients to meet the patients' needs. It is important that patients' experience of living with and managing a chronic condition is utilised in guidelines development. Collecting together all that is known about a condition into a clinical guideline can only be done if all interests are involved. It is also necessary to combine the best of evidence-based medicine with the practicalities of busy NHS practice. These Centres offer a new mechanism for producing guidelines that will be widely accepted and will be used across the NHS to benefit patient outcomes."

Dr Gill Harvey, Director of the National Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Supportive Care, said: "Nurses provide 80 per cent of direct care to patients and are often best placed to see how improvements to the quality of care can be implemented across the health service. We aim to bring this insight to the National Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Supportive Care, which will draw together expertise from national patient, professional and academic organisations to develop high quality clinical guidelines and audit services for the NHS."

Stephen Pilling, Co-director of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, said: "Mental health is a priority area for the NHS, and the establishment of a collaborating centre specifically for mental health is another indication of that priority. Our intention is to involve a wide range of mental health professionals, service users and carers in the development of clinical guidelines." Tim Kendall, fellow Co-director at the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, added: "We will use the best evidence available and ensure that the guidance and support is made available in practical ways which enable mental health professionals to deliver high quality services which will make a real difference for service users and carers."

Dr Mayur Lakhani, Vice Chairman of the Royal College General Practitioners has been appointed Chair of the National Collaborating Centre for Primary Care. He said: "This is a real opportunity for GPs and other professionals working in primary care to shape the output of NICE in the arena of clinical guidelines to ensure a primary health care perspective. Tools for effective clinical practice are becoming an increasingly important part of professional life. The output from the Centre will be designed to help GPs in their day-to-day work particularly in chronic disease management. They can be reassured that incisive GP input will be available both at strategic and operational level".

Professor Allan Templeton, Chairman of the Board of the National Collaborating Centre for Women's and Children's Health said: "The Centre will provide a focus for collaboration between health professionals and consumers. It is an exciting, new opportunity for all of us to work together to further the cause of women's and children's health."

Marcia Kelson, Director of the National Guidelines & Audit Patient Involvement Unit, said: "The College of Health is delighted to act as the host organisation for the National Guidelines and Audit Patient Involvement Unit. The Unit will advise on and support patient and carer involvement in the NICE clinical guidelines and clinical audit programmes. This is a unique opportunity to develop a systematic, rather than ad-hoc, approach to patient involvement, ensuring that patient and carer views are central to the development of key tools for improving the quality of clinical care".

Professor James Mason has been appointed Director of the National Guideline Support and Research Unit at the University of Newcastle. He said: "The challenge before us is an exciting one. We have an opportunity to apply the growing evidence-based medicine and health economic cultures of this country to develop robust, informative and feasible clinical guidelines. These guidelines will inform clinicians and patients about the value of healthcare choices, enhancing decision-making and promoting consistent quality of care provided by the NHS. It is important that stakeholders understand the guideline development process and contribute fully to ensure the usefulness of the guidelines to clinicians and patients".

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