This guidance looks at procedures used for diagnosis or treatment. It considers if they are safe and work well enough for wider use in the NHS.
An interventional procedure covers a broad range of topics. It can include things like:
- making a cut or a hole to gain access to the inside of a patient's body
For example, carrying out an operation or inserting a tube into a blood vessel. - gaining access to a body cavity without cutting
For example, carrying out treatment inside the stomach using an instrument inserted via the mouth. - using electromagnetic radiation
For example, using a laser to treat eye problems.
New guidance needed?
Anyone can tell us about a procedure for consideration. We want to know if there are:
- new or not well established procedures that you think we should develop guidance on
- established procedures that need to be reviewed and updated.
Find guidance
Our guidance lets you incorporate procedures that could provide significant health benefits into clinical practice in a responsible way.
You can search guidance by title or keyword and find information about guidance in development.
How we develop guidance
Discover:
- Who makes decisions
- A timeline of the process we use
- In-depth information on the process we use in our programme manual.
Get involved
- Register for updates on guidance
- Find out more about the advisory committee - including how to attend a meeting
- Comment on draft recommendations.
Patients and carers
Discover:
- How to contribute to the development of guidance (PDF)
- Versions of our guidance for patient and carers.
OPCS-4 codes
We use OPCS-4.9 for the classification of interventions and procedures. OPCS codes, or a link to them, are displayed on the overview page of guidance.Being monitored and out of remit
Discover more about procedures notified to us that aren't currently suitable for guidance development.
Safely introduce new procedures into your practice
Your organisation's governance lead should check if there's NICE interventional procedures guidance (IPG) for the procedure.
If an IPG exists, ensure that the procedure is done in accordance with the guidance.
If we haven't published an IPG for the procedure your organisation can still approve it as long as:
- the clinician has appropriate training and experience
- patients are made aware of the circumstances under which the procedure is being performed, and consent to this
- arrangements are made for data collection and clinical audit.
For more information read our summary of requirements for the NHS and clinicians (PDF).