Thousands of lives could be saved with the help of a new guideline on preventing blood clots in hospital patients, published today.

NICE is carrying out a national audit of the management of the open abdomen, to investigate the occurrence of intestinal fistulae with and without negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). We require anonymised data on all patients with an open abdomen.

NHS Evidence will be recruiting new members to its Advisory Committee. The committee is an independent committee of the Board of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and provides impartial accreditation recommendations to help identify, set and clarify standards and provide a quality assured evidence base for everyone in health and social care. This process ensures that all NHS staff have access to the best clinical and non-clinical evidence online to help them make informed decisions about patient care.

Applications will be welcomed from enthusiastic individuals with expertise in relevant areas of work such as research and methodology and those who are potential users of NHS Evidence services such as clinicians, social care professionals and lay representatives. Further details about the application process will appear on the NICE website shortly.

NHS Evidence