NICE process and methods
8 Linking social care guidance to other NICE guidance
8 Linking social care guidance to other NICE guidance
8.1 Other NICE guidance programmes
NICE currently produces the following types of guidance:
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Clinical guidelines, which focus on managing a particular disease or condition.
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Diagnostics guidance, which covers the efficacy and cost effectiveness of new diagnostic technologies.
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Interventional procedures guidance, which covers the safety and efficacy of interventional procedures used for diagnosis or treatment.
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Medical technologies guidance, which covers the efficacy and cost effectiveness of new or innovative medical technologies.
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Public health guidance, which deals with promoting good health and preventing ill health.
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Technology appraisal guidance, which focuses on the clinical and cost effectiveness of 1 or more technologies, such as new drugs, surgical procedures and medical devices.
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Quality standards, which provide a concise set of statements designed to drive and measure priority quality improvements within a particular area of care. Quality standards may span health, public health and social care.
The Centre for Clinical Practice develops clinical guidelines.
The Centre for Health Technology Evaluation develops technology appraisal, interventional procedures, medical technologies and diagnostics guidance.
The Centre for Public Health Excellence develops public health guidance.
Details of the development processes and methods for other programmes can be found on the NICE website.
As the amount of NICE guidance increases, there will be more topics that span multiple work programmes at NICE. The scoping stage of social care guidance development should identify topics from other programmes that are relevant to the guidance being developed (see section 2). The mapping of the NICE pathway should also identify cross-links.
8.2 Avoiding duplication
If a new piece of work is commissioned in an area related to a published NICE clinical guideline or public health guidance, careful thought needs to be given to avoiding unnecessary duplication.
For example, the Department of Health or the NHS Commissioning Board may ask NICE to develop new combined guidance on both the clinical management of a condition and the associated social care service options.
A referral for combined guidance is managed jointly by the Health and Social Care Directorate and the Centre for Public Health Excellence or the Centre for Clinical Practice as appropriate.