We have withdrawn this guideline during the COVID-19 pandemic. Use our COVID-19 rapid guidelines on managing suspected or confirmed pneumonia in adults in the community and antibiotics for pneumonia in adults in hospital
This guideline covers recognising, diagnosing and managing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, young people and adults. It aims to improve recognition and diagnosis, as well as the quality of care and support for people with ADHD.
This guideline covers the assessment and early management of head injury in children, young people and adults. It promotes effective clinical assessment so that people receive the right care for the severity of their head injury, including referral directly to specialist care if needed.
This guideline covers preventing, identifying and managing latent and active tuberculosis (TB) in children, young people and adults. It aims to improve ways of finding people who have TB in the community and recommends that everyone under 65 with latent TB should be treated. It describes how TB services should be organised, including the role of the TB control board.
This guideline covers when to offer caesarean section, procedural aspects of the operation and care after caesarean section. It aims to improve the consistency and quality of care for women who are considering a caesarean section or have had a caesarean section in the past and are now pregnant again.
This guideline covers the care that should be offered to women with a twin or triplet pregnancy in addition to the routine care that is offered to all women during pregnancy. It aims to reduce the risk of complications and improve outcomes for women and their babies.
This guideline covers identifying and treating primary hypertension (high blood pressure) in people aged 18 and over, including people with type 2 diabetes. It aims to reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks and strokes by helping healthcare professionals to diagnose hypertension accurately and treat it effectively.
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 interventions in secondary and further education to prevent and reduce alcohol use among children and young people aged 11 up to and including 18. It also covers people aged 11 to 25 with special educational needs or disabilities in full-time education. It will also be relevant to children aged 11 in year 6 of primary school.
This guideline covers the care of women at increased risk of, or with symptoms and signs of, preterm labour (before 37 weeks), and women having a planned preterm birth. It aims to reduce the risks of preterm birth for the baby and describes treatments to prevent or delay early labour and birth.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD (which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis) in people aged 16 and older. It aims to help people with COPD to receive a diagnosis earlier so that they can benefit from treatments to reduce symptoms, improve quality of life and keep them healthy for longer.
This guideline covers the care and treatment of people aged 18 and over with generalised anxiety disorder (chronic anxiety) or panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia or panic attacks). It aims to help people achieve complete relief of symptoms (remission), which is associated with better functioning and a lower likelihood of relapse.
This guideline covers the planning and management of end of life and palliative care in for infants, children and young people (aged 0–17 years) with life-limiting conditions. It aims to involve children, young people and their families in decisions about their care, and improve the support that is available to them throughout their lives.
This guideline covers assessing and managing motor neurone disease (MND). It aims to improve care from the time of diagnosis, and covers information and support, organisation of care, managing symptoms and preparing for end of life 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 long-acting reversible contraception. It aims to increase the use of long-action reversible contraception by improving the information given to women about their contraceptive choices.
This guideline covers identifying and managing depression in children and young people aged 5 to 18 years. Based on the stepped-care model, it aims to improve recognition and assessment and promote effective treatments for mild and moderate to severe depression.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing hypertension (high blood pressure), including pre-eclampsia, during pregnancy, labour and birth. It also includes advice for women with hypertension who wish to conceive and women who have had a pregnancy complicated by hypertension. It aims to improve care during pregnancy, labour and birth for women and their babies.
This guideline covers assessing and managing urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women aged 18 and over. It also covers complications associated with mesh surgery for these conditions.
This guideline covers diagnosing, assessing and managing primary hyperparathyroidism. It aims to improve recognition and treatment of this condition, reducing long-term complications and improving quality of life.
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 managing ulcerative colitis in children, young people and adults. It aims to help professionals to provide consistent high-quality care and it highlights the importance of advice and support for people with ulcerative colitis.
This guideline covers managing Crohn’s disease in children, young people and adults. It aims to reduce people’s symptoms and maintain or improve their quality of life.
This guideline covers interventions in the acute stage of a stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA). It offers the best clinical advice on the diagnosis and acute management of stroke and TIA in the 48 hours after onset of symptoms.
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 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 specific aspects of respiratory support (for example, oxygen supplementation, assisted ventilation, treatment of some respiratory disorders, and aspects of monitoring) for preterm babies in hospital.
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 diagnosing and treating delirium in people aged 18 and over in hospital and in long-term residential care or a nursing home. It also covers identifying people at risk of developing delirium in these settings and preventing onset. It aims to improve diagnosis of delirium and reduce hospital stays and complications.
This guideline covers the care that healthy women and their babies should be offered during pregnancy. It aims to ensure that pregnant women are offered regular check-ups, information and support.
This guideline covers care and support for adults with cerebral palsy. It aims to improve health and wellbeing, promote access to services and support participation and independent living.
This guideline covers assessing and managing renal and ureteric stones. It aims to improve the detection, clearance and prevention of stones, so reducing pain and anxiety, and improving quality of life.
This guideline covers recognising, assessing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children, young people and adults. It aims to improve quality of life by reducing symptoms of PTSD such as anxiety, sleep problems and difficulties with concentration. Recommendations also aim to raise awareness of the condition and improve coordination of care.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing first or recurrent upper or lower urinary tract infections in infants, children and young people. It aims to achieve more consistent clinical practice, based on accurate diagnosis and effective management.
This guideline covers the diagnosing and managing of myeloma (including smouldering myeloma and primary plasma cell leukaemia) in people aged 16 and over. It aims to improve care for people with myeloma by promoting the most effective tests and treatments for myeloma and its complications.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing Lyme disease. It aims to raise awareness of when Lyme disease should be suspected and ensure that people have prompt and consistent diagnosis and treatment. It does not cover preventing Lyme disease.
This guideline covers decision-making in people 16 years and over who may lack capacity now or in the future. It aims to help health and social care practitioners support people to make their own decisions where they have the capacity to do so. It also helps practitioners to keep people who lack capacity at the centre of the decision-making process.
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 diagnosing and managing chronic heart failure in people aged 18 and over. It aims to improve diagnosis and treatment to increase the length and quality of life for people with heart failure.
This guideline covers ways to reduce suicide and help people bereaved or affected by suicides. It aims to:
This guideline covers how to increase uptake of the free flu vaccination among people who are eligible. It describes ways to increase awareness and how to use all opportunities in primary and secondary care to identify people who should be encouraged to have the vaccination.
This guideline covers how community pharmacies can help maintain and improve people’s physical and mental health and wellbeing, including people with a long-term condition. It aims to encourage more people to use community pharmacies by integrating them within existing health and care pathways and ensuring they offer standard services and a consistent approach. It requires a collaborative approach from individual pharmacies and their representatives, local authorities and other commissioners.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing early and locally advanced breast cancer. It aims to help healthcare professionals offer the right treatments to people, taking into account the person's individual preferences.
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 diagnosing and managing dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease). It aims to improve care by making recommendations on training staff and helping carers to support people living with dementia.
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 care and support for adults with learning disabilities as they grow older. It covers identifying changing needs, planning for the future, and delivering services including health, social care and housing. It aims to support people to access the services they need as they get older.
This guideline covers organising and delivering emergency and acute medical care for people aged over 16 in the community and in hospital. It aims to reduce the need for hospital admissions by giving advanced training to paramedics and providing community alternatives to hospital care. It also promotes good-quality care in hospital and joint working between health and social services.
This guideline covers services for children, young people and adults with a learning disability (or autism and a learning disability) and behaviour that challenges. It aims to promote a lifelong approach to supporting people and their families and carers, focusing on prevention and early intervention and minimising inpatient admissions.
This guideline covers stop smoking interventions and services delivered in primary care and community settings for everyone over the age of 12. It aims to ensure that everyone who smokes is advised and encouraged to stop and given the support they need. It emphasises the importance of targeting vulnerable groups who find smoking cessation hard or who smoke a lot.