This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for acute sore throat. It aims to limit antibiotic use and reduce antimicrobial resistance. Acute sore throat is often caused by a virus, lasts for about a week, and most people get better without antibiotics. Withholding antibiotics rarely leads to complications.
This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for acute cough associated with an upper respiratory tract infection or acute bronchitis in adults, young people and children. It aims to limit antibiotic use and reduce antibiotic resistance.
This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for managing and preventing acute exacerbations of bronchiectasis (non-cystic fibrosis). It aims to optimise antibiotic use and reduce antibiotic resistance.
This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for acute otitis media (ear infection). It aims to limit antibiotic use and reduce antimicrobial resistance. Acute otitis media can be caused by viruses or bacteria. It lasts for about a week, and most children get better in 3 days without antibiotics. Serious complications are rare.
This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for acute sinusitis. It aims to limit antibiotic use and reduce antimicrobial resistance. Acute sinusitis is usually caused by a virus, lasts for about 2 to 3 weeks, and most people get better without antibiotics. Withholding antibiotics rarely leads to complications.
This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It aims to optimise antibiotic use and reduce antibiotic resistance.
This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for preventing recurrent urinary tract infections in children, young people and adults who do not have a catheter. It aims to optimise antibiotic use and reduce antibiotic resistance.
This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for acute pyelonephritis (upper urinary tract infection) in children, young people and adults who do not have a catheter. It aims to optimise antibiotic use and reduce antibiotic resistance.
This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for acute prostatitis. It aims to optimise antibiotic use and reduce antibiotic resistance.
This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for catheter-associated urinary tract infection in children, young people and adults. It aims to optimise antibiotic use and reduce antibiotic resistance.
This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for lower urinary tract infection (also called cystitis) in children, young people and adults who do not have a catheter. It aims to optimise antibiotic use and reduce antibiotic resistance.
This guideline covers needle and syringe programmes for people (including those under 16) who inject drugs. The main aim is to reduce the transmission of viruses and other infections caused by sharing injecting equipment, such as HIV, hepatitis B and C. In turn, this will reduce the prevalence of blood-borne viruses and bacterial infections, so benefiting wider society.
This guideline covers how employers can encourage and support employees to stop smoking. It aims to reduce the number of people who smoke or are exposed to second-hand smoke and the rate of diseases and conditions caused by smoking.
This guideline covers planning and delivering multi-agency services for domestic violence and abuse. It aims to help identify, prevent and reduce domestic violence and abuse among women and men in heterosexual or same-sex relationships, and among young people.
This guideline covers making people aware of how to correctly use antimicrobial medicines (including antibiotics) and the dangers associated with their overuse and misuse. It also includes measures to prevent and control infection that can stop people needing antimicrobials or spreading infection to others. It aims to change people’s behaviour to reduce antimicrobial resistance and the spread of resistant microbes.
This guideline covers promoting physical activity for children and young people aged under 18 at home, preschool, school and in the community. It includes raising awareness of the benefits of physical activity, listening to what children and young people want, planning and providing spaces and facilities, and helping families build physical activity into their daily lives.
This guideline covers how to help employees return to work after long-term sickness and how to help people receiving benefits return to employment (paid or unpaid).
This guideline covers the risk of early death from heart disease and other smoking-related illnesses. It aims to reduce the number of people who are disadvantaged dying prematurely by ensuring people have better access to flexible, well-coordinated treatment and support.
This guideline covers interventions to support social and emotional wellbeing among young people aged 11–19 years who are in full-time education. It aims to promote good social, emotional and psychological health to protect young people against behavioural and health problems.
This guideline covers one-to-one interventions to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and under-18 conceptions. The aim is to reduce the transmission of chlamydia and other STIs, including HIV, and reduce the rate of pregnancies among women aged under 18.
This guideline covers people living in England with ancestral links to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan or Sri Lanka who use traditional South Asian varieties of smokeless tobacco. The aim is to help them stop using tobacco that is placed in the mouth or nose (but not burned). It does not include oral snuff products that are sucked.
This quality improvement guide was produced by NICE, in partnership with the Health Protection Agency (HPA). Its aim is twofold: to reduce the risk of harm from healthcare-associated infections for patients, staff and visitors; and to reduce the costs associated with preventable infection.
This guideline covers helping people to stop smoking in acute, maternity and mental health services. It promotes smokefree policies and services and recommends effective ways to help people stop smoking or to abstain from smoking while using or working in secondary care settings.
This guideline covers lifestyle weight management services for children and young people aged under 18 who are overweight or obese. It advises how to deliver effective weight management programmes that support children and young people to change their lifestyle and manage their weight.
This guideline covers exercise referral schemes for people aged 19 and older, in particular, those who are inactive or sedentary. The aim is to encourage people to be physically active.
This guideline covers the link between body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference and the risk of disease among adults from black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups in the UK. The aim was to determine whether lower cut-off points should be used for these groups as a trigger for lifestyle interventions to prevent conditions such as diabetes, myocardial infarction or stroke.
This guideline covers how to create the right conditions to support mental wellbeing at work. The aim is to promote a culture of participation, equality and fairness in the workplace based on open communication and flexible working.
This guideline covers smoking prevention interventions that are delivered in schools or other educational institutions. It aims to prevent children and young people aged under 19 from taking up smoking.
This guideline covers alcohol problems among people over 10. It aims to prevent and identify such problems as early as possible using a mix of policy and practice.
This guideline covers support to help women stop smoking during pregnancy and in the first year after childbirth. It includes identifying women who need help to quit, referring them to stop smoking services and providing intensive and ongoing support to help them stop. The guideline also advises how to tailor services for women from disadvantaged groups in which smoking rates are high.
This guideline covers how to assess and monitor body weight and how to prevent someone from becoming overweight or obese before, during and after pregnancy. The aim is help all women who have a baby to achieve and maintain a healthy weight by adopting a balanced diet and being physically active.
This guideline covers the main risk factors linked with cardiovascular disease: poor diet, physical inactivity, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. It aims to reduce the high incidence of cardiovascular disease. This, in turn, will help prevent other major causes of death and illness, such as type 2 diabetes and many cancers.
This guideline covers mid-life approaches to delay or prevent the onset of dementia, disability and frailty in later life. The guideline aims to increase the amount of time that people can be independent, healthy and active in later life.
This guideline covers encouraging people to increase the amount they walk or cycle for travel or recreation purposes.
This guideline covers how local communities, with support from local organisations and networks, can help prevent people from becoming overweight or obese or help them lose weight. It aims to support sustainable and community-wide action to achieve this.
This guideline covers providing brief advice on physical activity to adults in primary care. It aims to improve health and wellbeing by raising awareness of the importance of physical activity and encouraging people to increase or maintain their activity level.
This guideline covers anti-smoking mass-media campaigns, for example, on TV, in newspapers and online. It also covers measures to prevent tobacco being sold to children and young people. The aim is to help prevent children and young people from taking up smoking.
This guideline covers how to encourage employees to be physically active. The aim is to increase the working population’s physical activity levels.
This guideline covers promoting mental wellbeing in people aged over 65. It focuses on practical support for everyday activities, based on occupational therapy principles and methods. This includes working with older people and their carers to agree what kind of support they need.
This guideline covers how general dental practice teams can convey advice about oral hygiene and the use of fluoride. It also covers diet, smoking, smokeless tobacco and alcohol intake.
This guideline covers preventing type 2 diabetes in adult populations and communities who are at high risk. It aims to promote a healthy diet and physical activity at community and population level, and recommends how to tailor services for people in ethnic communities and other groups who are particularly at risk of type 2 diabetes.
This guideline covers how to identify adults at high risk of type 2 diabetes. It aims to remind practitioners that age is no barrier to being at high risk of, or developing, the condition. It also aims to help them provide those at high risk with an effective and appropriate intensive lifestyle-change programme to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. The recommendations in this guideline can be used alongside the NHS Health Check programme.
This guideline covers how organisations, professionals and carers can work together to deliver high quality care, stable placements and nurturing relationships for looked-after children and young people. It aims to help these children and young people reach their full potential and enjoy the same opportunities in life as their peers.
This guideline covers behaviours such as diet and physical activity to help children (after weaning), young people and adults maintain a healthy weight or help prevent excess weight gain. The aim is to prevent a range of diseases and conditions including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes and improve mental wellbeing.
This guideline covers new buildings and communal outdoor areas. The aim is to ensure there are enough shady areas to protect people from overexposure to the sun.
This guideline covers road speed limits, 20mph zones and engineering measures to reduce speed or make routes safer.
This guideline covers home safety assessments, supplying and installing safety equipment and providing education and advice. It aims to prevent unintentional injuries among all children and young people aged under 15 but, in particular, those living in disadvantaged circumstances.
This guideline covers improving oral health by developing and implementing a strategy that meets the needs of people in the local community. It aims to promote and protect people’s oral health by improving their diet and oral hygiene, and by encouraging them to visit the dentist regularly.
This guideline covers school-based interventions to prevent and reduce alcohol use among children and young people. It aims to encourage children and young people not to drink, delay the age at which they start drinking and reduce the harm to those who do drink.
This guideline covers interventions to maintain and improve the mental wellbeing and independence of people aged 65 or older and how to identify those most at risk of a decline.