The first steps have been taken in creating new national guidelines, which will supersede current clinical guidelines when endorsed by the National Clinical Effectiveness Committee (NCEC).
Concerns have previously been raised about the guideline process by doctors uncertain as to how this will affect clinical practice. Evidence of adherence will be required for the licensing of healthcare facilities.
The NCEC is the national body that provides a framework for the national endorsement of clinical guidelines and audit to optimise patient care.
The NCEC received 13 guidelines from a wide range of disciplines and organisations in answer to its first call for submissions, the deadline for which was January 27, a spokesperson for the Department of Health told IMN.
The spokesperson said that the NCEC is now undertaking a prioritisation process in order to identify which guidelines should proceed to appraisal to become first in the National Suite of Clinical Guidelines.
This will be based on criteria including the burden of the disease or condition, its economic impact, and evidence of variation in practice, the spokesperson stated.
Consultant neurologist Dr Colin Doherty, who is an NCEC committee member, and also HSE national clinical lead for epilepsy, said he “welcomed” the submissions of guidelines at the Patient Safety Conference held in the RCPI earlier this month.
Dr Doherty said that these submissions demonstrated a high level of interest and commitment to this process, one of many patient quality and safety developments that have occurred over the last year.
He described clinical guidelines as the “tip of the iceberg in a sea of change”, noting that the NCEC, and the health system as a whole, is likely to be able to effectively implement and monitor only a “small number” of new national clinical guidelines each year.
Not all clinical guidelines need to be submitted for national endorsement and guideline development groups should continue to develop clinical guidelines in response to the needs of their own organisations, the Department said.
Following the announcement of the call for submissions, several doctors wrote to IMN, expressing their concerns about whether there would be sufficient consultation on the adoption of the guidelines and how their endorsement would impact licensing.
Chaired by Professor Hilary Humphreys, RCSI Professor of Clinical Microbiology and consultant microbiologist at Beaumont Hospital, the NCEC was established in late 2010 and is part of the Patient Safety First Initiative.
Image courtesy of comedy_nose, Creative Commons
