Quality standard

This quality standard covers the organisation and delivery of emergency and acute medical care in the community and in hospital. It covers adults (16 and over) who seek, or are referred for, emergency NHS care for a suspected or confirmed acute medical emergency. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.

It does not cover the acute clinical management of specific medical conditions that need urgent or emergency care. This will be addressed within the quality standards for the relevant conditions.

How to use NICE quality standards and how we develop them

Quality standards help you improve the quality of care you provide or commission. They apply in England and Wales (see the UK government website and Welsh government website). Decisions on how they apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland are made by ministers in the Scottish government and Northern Ireland Executive.

Find out how to use quality standards and how we develop them. We check our quality standards every August to make sure they are up to date.