Proposed optimal practice review topics

Centre for Clinical Practice

NICE is undertaking a new programme of work to help the NHS identify treatments that may not be effective and which may not improve patient care or do not represent good value for money. Optimising current practice to ensure effective treatments are used will save resources, and may help save money that the NHS can instead invest in providing care and drugs which make a positive difference to patients’ lives.

As part of its guidelines programme, NICE will review the clinical and cost effectiveness of treatments that may currently result in the poor use of NHS resources. Following this optimal practice review, NICE could make a number of different recommendations, for example the treatment under review may not be recommended for use by the NHS or it may be recommended only for use in a particular group of patients who are most likely to benefit from the targeted use of the treatment.

The first step is of this work is to consult at a workshop with stakeholders on whether the proposed topic is suitable for review. It’s important to be clear that the proposal of a topic for consultation does not automatically mean that the particular practice is ineffective, the practice may be effective when targeted at particular groups of patients.

NICE is currently considering these proposed topics for potential inclusion in the optimal practice review work stream. At the scoping workshop we will discuss the proposed draft scope of the work and decide if the topic should go ahead using the NICE short clinical guideline process. Once the decision has been taken to go ahead with the topic the scope will be subject to a 4 week public consultation.

If you are an organisation with an interest in this topic and would like to get involved in the scoping stage, please email: OPR@nice.org.uk

Further information on the optimal practice review programme.