This guideline covers medicines adherence in people aged 18 and over. It recommends how to encourage adherence to medicines by supporting and involving people in decisions about their prescribed medicines. It aims to ensure that a person’s decision to use a medicine is an informed choice.
This guideline covers principles for working with people with antisocial personality disorder, including dealing with crises (crisis resolution). It aims to help people with antisocial personality disorder manage feelings of anger, distress, anxiety and depression, and to reduce offending and antisocial behaviour.
This guideline covers surgical treatment of children younger than 12 years who have fluid buildup behind their eardrum (otitis media, also known as ‘glue ear’). It aims to improve hearing and quality of life in children with otitis media.
This guideline covers how patients in hospital should be monitored to identify those whose health may become worse suddenly and the care they should receive. It aims to reduce the risk of patients needing to stay longer in hospital, not recovering fully or dying. It doesn’t specifically cover the care of children, patients in critical care areas or those in the final stages of a terminal illness.
This guideline covers recognising and managing borderline personality disorder. It aims to help people with borderline personality disorder to manage feelings of distress, anxiety, worthlessness and anger, and to maintain stable and close relationships with others.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in people aged 18 and over. It details how to accurately diagnose IBS, and aims to improve the quality of life for adults with IBS by promoting effective management using dietary and lifestyle advice, pharmacological therapy and referral for psychological interventions.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage in women with complications, such as pain and bleeding, in early pregnancy (that is, up to 13 completed weeks of pregnancy). It aims to improve how early pregnancy loss is diagnosed, and the support women are given, to limit the psychological impact of their loss.
This guideline covers diagnosing and treating jaundice, which is caused by increased levels of bilirubin in the blood, in newborn babies (neonates). It aims to help detect or prevent very high levels of bilirubin, which can be harmful if not treated.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing bladder cancer in people 18 and above referred from primary care with suspected bladder cancer, and those with newly diagnosed or recurrent bladder (urothelial carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, squamous-cell carcinoma or small-cell carcinoma) or urethral cancer.
This guideline covers assessing and managing cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract in people aged 16 and over. These are cancers of the airways of the head and neck, including the mouth, throat, larynx (voicebox) and sinuses. It aims to reduce variation in practice and improve survival.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) which is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) (or encephalopathy). It aims to improve the quality of life for people with CFS/ME by setting out the care and treatment options that should be available for them.
This guideline covers identifying, assessing and managing alcohol-use disorders (harmful drinking and alcohol dependence) in adults and young people aged 10–17 years. It aims to reduce harms (such as liver disease, heart problems, depression and anxiety) from alcohol by improving assessment and setting goals for reducing alcohol consumption.
This guideline covers assessing and managing food allergy in children and young people under 19. It aims to improve symptoms such as faltering growth and eczema by offering advice on how to identify food allergy and when to refer to secondary or specialist care.
This guideline covers recognising, assessing and treating social anxiety disorder (also known as ‘social phobia’) in children and young people (from school age to 17 years) and adults (aged 18 years and older). It aims to improve symptoms, educational, occupational and social functioning, and quality of life in people with social anxiety disorder.
This guideline covers the components of a good experience of service use. It aims to make sure that all adults using NHS mental health services have the best possible experience of care.
This guideline covers the longer-term psychological treatment and management of self-harm in people aged 8 and over. It aims to improve the quality of care and support for people who self harm and covers both single and recurrent episodes of self-harm.
This guideline covers the assessment for and management of blood transfusions in adults, young people and children over 1 year old. It covers the general principles of blood transfusion, but does not make recommendations relating to specific conditions.
This guideline covers preventing infection within 72 hours of birth in healthy babies, treating pregnant women whose baby is at risk, and caring for babies who have a suspected or confirmed infection. It aims to reduce delays in recognising and treating sick babies and prevent unnecessary use of antibiotics.
This guideline covers identifying and managing familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), a specific type of high cholesterol that runs in the family, in children, young people and adults. It aims to help identify people at increased risk of coronary heart disease as a result of having FH.
This guideline covers the assessment and care of adults who are at risk of or who have cardiovascular disease (CVD), such as heart disease and stroke. It aims to help healthcare professionals identify people who are at risk of cardiovascular problems including people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, or chronic kidney disease. It describes the lifestyle changes people can make and how statins can be used to reduce their risk.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing atopic eczema in children under 12. It aims to improve care for children with atopic eczema by making detailed recommendations on treatment and specialist referral. The guideline also explains how healthcare professionals should assess the effect eczema has on quality of life, in addition to its physical severity.
This guideline covers the care of healthy women and their babies, during labour and immediately after the birth. It focuses on women who give birth between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy (‘term’). The guideline helps women to make an informed choice about where to have their baby. It also aims to reduce variation in areas of care such as fetal monitoring during labour and management of the third stage of labour.
This guideline covers using psychosocial interventions to treat adults and young people over 16 who have a problem with or are dependent on opioids, stimulants or cannabis. It aims to reduce illicit drug use and improve people’s physical and mental health, relationships and employment.
This guideline covers identifying, assessing and managing obesity in children (aged 2 years and over), young people and adults. It aims to improve the use of bariatric surgery and very-low-calorie diets to help people who are obese to reduce their weight.
This guideline covers the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer in secondary care, including information on the best way to diagnose and identify different stages of the disease, and how to manage adverse effects of treatment. It also includes recommendations on follow-up in primary care for people diagnosed with prostate cancer.
This guideline covers the assessment and management of melanoma (a type of skin cancer) in children, young people and adults. It aims to reduce variation in practice and improve survival.
This guideline covers care for women of any age (including girls and young women under 18) who request an abortion. It aims to improve the organisation of services and make them easier for women to access. Detailed recommendations on conducting abortions at different gestational stages are also included, to ensure that women get the safest and most effective care possible.
This guideline covers managing colorectal (bowel) cancer in people aged 18 and over. It aims to improve quality of life and survival for adults with colorectal cancer through management of local disease and management of secondary tumours (metastatic disease).
This guideline covers preventing, detecting and managing acute kidney injury in children, young people and adults. It aims to improve assessment and detection by non-specialists, and specifies when people should be referred to specialist services. This will improve early recognition and treatment, and reduce the risk of complications in people with acute kidney injury.
This guideline covers identifying and managing depression in adults aged 18 years and older, in primary and secondary care. It aims to improve care for people with depression by promoting improved recognition and treatment.
This guideline covers recognising, assessing and treating mental health problems in women who are planning to have a baby, are pregnant, or have had a baby or been pregnant in the past year. It covers depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, drug- and alcohol-use disorders and severe mental illness (such as psychosis, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia). It promotes early detection and good management of mental health problems to improve women’s quality of life during pregnancy and in the year after giving birth.
This guideline covers managing neuropathic pain (nerve pain) with pharmacological treatments (drugs) in adults in non-specialist settings. It aims to improve quality of life for people with conditions such as neuralgia, shingles and diabetic neuropathy by reducing pain and promoting increased participation in all aspects of daily living. The guideline sets out how drug treatments for neuropathic pain differ from traditional pain management.
This guideline covers the routine postnatal care women and their babies should receive for 6–8 weeks after the birth. It includes advice given on breastfeeding, and the management of common and serious health problems in women and their babies after the birth.
This guideline covers some aspects of assessing and managing hearing loss in primary, community and secondary care. It aims to improve the quality of life for adults with hearing loss by advising healthcare staff on assessing hearing difficulties, managing earwax and referring people for audiological or specialist assessment and management.
This guideline covers care during labour and birth for women who need extra support because they have a medical condition or complications in their current or previous pregnancy. The guideline also covers women who have had no antenatal care. It aims to improve experiences and outcomes for women and their babies.
This guideline covers renal replacement therapy (dialysis and transplantation) and conservative management for people with chronic kidney disease stages 4 and 5. It aims to improve quality of life by making recommendations on planning, starting and switching treatments, and coordinating care.
This guideline covers the initial assessment of symptoms and signs that might indicate a neurological condition. It helps non-specialist healthcare professionals to identify people who should be offered referral for specialist investigation.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing non-small-cell and small-cell lung cancer. It aims to improve outcomes for patients by ensuring that the most effective tests and treatments are used, and that people have access to suitable palliative care and follow-up.
This guideline covers care for adults and young people (aged 10 years and older) with physical health problems that are completely or partly caused by an alcohol-use disorder. It aims to improve the health of people with alcohol-use disorders by providing recommendations on managing acute alcohol withdrawal and treating alcohol-related conditions.
This guideline covers advice on the diagnosis and management of tension-type headache, migraine (including migraine with aura and menstrual-related migraine), cluster headache and medication overuse headache in young people (aged 12 years and older) and adults. It aims to improve the recognition and management of headaches, with more targeted treatment to improve the quality of life for people with headaches, and to reduce unnecessary investigations.
This guideline covers assessing and reducing the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE or blood clots, including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) in people aged 16 and over in hospital. It aims to help healthcare professionals identify people most at risk and describes interventions that can be used to reduce the risk of VTE.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing Parkinson's disease in people aged 18 and over. It aims to improve care from the time of diagnosis, including monitoring and managing symptoms, providing information and support, and palliative care.
This guideline covers the signs of possible child maltreatment in children and young people aged under 18 years. It aims to raise awareness and help health professionals who are not child protection specialists to identify the features of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect and fabricated or induced illness.
This guideline covers preventing and controlling healthcare-associated infections in children, young people and adults in primary and community care settings. It provides a blueprint for the infection prevention and control precautions that should be applied by everyone involved in delivering NHS care and treatment.
This guideline covers recognising and diagnosing autism spectrum disorder in children and young people from birth up to 19 years. It also covers referral. It aims to improve the experience of children, young people and those who care for them.
This guideline covers using colonoscopy to check for signs of bowel cancer in people aged 18 and over with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease (types of inflammatory bowel disease) or adenomas (also known as polyps). It aims to prevent cancer and prolong life by offering advice on identifying early bowel cancer in adults most at risk.
This guideline covers assessing and managing people aged 14 years and over with coexisting severe mental illness (psychosis) and substance misuse. It aims to help healthcare professionals guide people with psychosis with coexisting substance misuse to stabilise, reduce or stop their substance misuse, to improve treatment adherence and outcomes, and to enhance their lives.
This guideline covers assessing and treating bedwetting in people aged under 19. It aims to reduce bedwetting and the distress this causes by explaining what to ask in an assessment, what advice to provide, and which treatments are effective.
This guideline covers endoscopy treatments for people aged 18 and over with Barrett’s oesophagus and high-grade dysplasia or intramucosal cancer. It offers advice on which types of endoscopy treatments should be offered and how these should be used. It aims to improve choice of treatment for adults with Barrett’s oesophagus and improve quality of life and survival for those who cannot have surgery.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing gallstone disease in adults. It aims to reduce variation in care by promoting the most effective treatments, and to improve the advice given to people with gallstone disease before and after treatment.