This guideline covers cardiac rehabilitation and preventing further cardiovascular disease in people aged 18 and over who have had a myocardial infarction. It aims to promote the health of people who have had an MI by encouraging them to attend a cardiac rehabilitation programme and advising them on a healthy lifestyle. It also includes advice on drug therapy.
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 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 prescribing antibiotics in primary care to children (aged 3 months and older), young people and adults with self-limiting respiratory tract infections (RTIs). It provides practical strategies for prescribing, including identifying when immediate antibiotics are needed and when to offer a delayed prescription or reassurance alone. It covers identifying who is at risk of serious illness but not investigations or further care for people needing immediate antibiotics.
This guideline covers risk assessment, prevention and treatment in children, young people and adults at risk of, or who have, a pressure ulcer (also known as a bedsore or pressure sore). It aims to reduce the number of pressure ulcers in people admitted to secondary or tertiary care or receiving NHS care in other settings, such as primary and community care and emergency departments.
This guideline covers assigning recall intervals between oral health reviews that are appropriate to the needs of individual patients. The guideline takes account of the effect of dental checks on: people’s wellbeing, general health and preventive habits; caries incidence and avoiding restorations; periodontal health and avoiding tooth loss; and avoiding pain and anxiety. It aims to improve or maintain patients’ quality of life and reduce morbidity associated with oral and dental disease.
This guideline covers recognising, assessing, diagnosing and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder in adults, young people and children (aged 8 years and older). It aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder. It includes recommendations on how families and carers may be able to support people with either of these conditions, and how they can get support for themselves.
This guideline covers how upper gastrointestinal bleeding can be effectively managed in adults and young people aged 16 years and older. It aims to identify which diagnostic and therapeutic steps are useful so hospitals can develop a structure in which clinical teams can deliver an optimum service for people who develop this condition.
This guideline covers safe and effective prescribing of strong opioids for pain relief in adults with advanced and progressive disease. It aims to clarify the clinical pathway for prescribing and help to improve pain management and patient safety. Care during the last 2 to 3 days of life is covered by care of dying adults in the last days of life.
This guideline covers assessing the risk of fragility fracture in people aged 18 and over with osteoporosis. It aims to provide guidance on the selection and use of risk assessment tools in the care of adults at risk of fragility fractures in all NHS settings.
This guideline covers detecting, diagnosing and treating women (18 years and older) who have, or are suspected of having, epithelial ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer, primary peritoneal cancer or borderline ovarian cancer. It aims to enable earlier detection of ovarian cancer and improve initial 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 the short-term management and prevention of self-harm in people aged 8 and over, regardless of whether accompanied by mental illness. It covers the first 48 hours following an act of self-harm, but does not address the longer-term psychiatric care of people who self-harm.
This guideline covers assessment of fall risk and interventions to prevent falls in people aged 65 and over. It aims to reduce the risk and incidence of falls and the associated distress, pain, injury, loss of confidence, loss of independence and mortality.
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in people aged 18 and over. It aims to improve the quality of life for people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis by helping healthcare professionals to diagnose the condition and provide effective symptom management.
This guideline covers assessing and managing faecal incontinence (any involuntary loss of faeces that is a social or hygienic problem) in people aged 18 and over. It aims to ensure that staff are aware that faecal incontinence is a sign or a symptom, not a diagnosis.
This guideline covers preventing children, young people and adults becoming overweight or obese. It outlines how the NHS, local authorities, early years’ settings, schools and workplaces can increase physical activity levels and make dietary improvements among their target populations.
This guideline covers assessing and managing non-complex fractures that can be treated in the emergency department or orthopaedic clinic. It aims to improve practice so that people with fractures receive the care that they need without unnecessary tests and treatments.
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 recognising and managing psychosis and schizophrenia in adults. It aims to improve care through early recognition and treatment, and by focusing on long-term recovery. It also recommends checking for coexisting health problems and providing support for family members and carers.
This guideline covers assessing and managing osteoarthritis in adults. It covers both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments. It promotes effective treatment options to control joint pain and improve function in people with osteoarthritis.
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 identifying and caring for adults who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition in hospital or in their own home or a care home. It offers advice on how oral, enteral tube feeding and parenteral nutrition support should be started, administered and stopped. It aims to support healthcare professionals identify malnourished people and help them to choose the most appropriate form of support.
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 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 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 preventing and managing inadvertent hypothermia in people aged 18 and over having surgery. It offers advice on assessing patients’ risk of hypothermia, measuring and monitoring temperature, and devices for keeping patients warm before, during and after surgery.
This guideline covers preventing infective endocarditis (IE) in children, young people and adults. It focuses on people at increased risk of infective endocarditis undergoing dental, gastrointestinal tract, genitourinary and respiratory tract procedures.
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 drug allergy in all age groups. It aims to make it easier for professionals to tell when someone is having an allergic reaction, by specifying the key signs and patterns to look out for. It also makes recommendations on improving people’s understanding of their drug allergies, and ensuring these are recorded properly in their medical records.
This guideline covers the care and treatment of people with, or at risk of developing, chronic kidney disease. It aims to prevent or delay the progression of chronic kidney disease, reduce or prevent the development of complications, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
This guideline covers the care and treatment of adults (aged 18 and over) with type 1 diabetes.
This guideline covers treatments for people aged 18 and over with unstable angina (recurring chest pain) or a type of heart attack called non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). It aims to ensure that people get treatment quickly. It recommends that as soon as NSTEMI or unstable angina is diagnosed, healthcare professionals assess people for risk of more serious heart problems in the future to guide their treatment.
This guideline covers identifying, treating and managing depression in people aged 18 and over who also have a chronic physical health problem such as cancer, heart disease or diabetes. It aims to improve the care of people with a long-term physical health problem, which can cause or exacerbate depression. This has the potential to increase their quality of life and life expectancy.
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 managing diabetes and its complications in women who are planning pregnancy or are already pregnant. It aims to improve the diagnosis of gestational diabetes and help women with diabetes to self-manage their blood glucose levels before and during pregnancy.
This guideline covers the clinical care of adults (18 years and over) who are dying during the last 2 to 3 days of life. It aims to improve end of life care for people in their last days of life by communicating respectfully and involving them, and the people important to them, in decisions and by maintaining their comfort and dignity. The guideline covers how to manage common symptoms without causing unacceptable side effects and maintain hydration in the last days of life.
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 detecting and managing metastatic spinal cord compression in adults with cancer that has spread to the spine. It aims to improve quality of life by promoting early detection and management, and reducing spinal cord damage and disability.
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 care and support for people with advanced (stage 4) breast cancer. It aims to help them and their healthcare professionals make shared decisions about tests and treatments to improve outcomes and quality of life.
This guideline covers diagnosing, managing and referring infants and young children younger than 5 years who present with acute diarrhoea (lasting up to 14 days) with or without vomiting. It aims to improve the diagnosis and management of infective gastroenteritis and appropriate escalation of care.
This guideline covers how donor milk banks should recruit, screen and support women who donate breast milk. It also covers how milk banks should handle and process the breast milk they receive from donors. It aims to improve the safety of donor milk and operation of donor milk services.
This guideline covers assessing and diagnosing recent chest pain in people aged 18 and over and managing symptoms while a diagnosis is being made. It aims to improve outcomes by providing advice on tests (ECG, high-sensitivity troponin tests, multislice CT angiography, functional testing) that support healthcare professionals to make a speedy and accurate diagnosis.
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 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 the assessment and early management of spinal column and spinal cord injury in pre-hospital settings (including ambulance services), emergency departments and major trauma centres. It covers traumatic injuries to the spine but does not cover spinal injury caused by a disease.It aims to reduce death and disability by improving the quality of emergency and urgent care.
This guideline covers assessing and managing pelvic fractures, open fractures and severe ankle fractures (known as pilon fractures and intra-articular distal tibia fractures) in pre-hospital settings (including ambulance services), emergency departments and major trauma centres. It aims to reduce deaths and long-term health problems by improving the quality of emergency and urgent care.
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 rehabilitation strategies for adults who have experienced a critical illness and stayed in critical care. It aims to improve physical, psychological and cognitive outcomes in people who have been discharged from critical care.