Recently, it seems that Westminster politics has started to resemble that old joke about London buses – you wait ages for a new prime minister, then a whole succession of them come along at once.
Still, while we strive to remain politically neutral at the GPN, it has been refreshing to see that Andy Burnham, the latest holder of the keys to number 10 (or the poisoned chalice, whichever way you choose to look at it), is at least making the right noises about putting social care at the top of his agenda.
Why NICE quality standards should be applied in practice.
Here, Nick Baillie, describes what quality standards are and who they are for, as well as how to get involved in their development.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) was established in 1999 and initially produced guidance, including technology appraisals and clinical guidelines for the NHS. Since this time, NICE has been asked to develop a range of other types of guidance, run different programmes of work, and support the implementation and use of its products. The scope of NICE has also been extended to cover the public health and social care sectors. Among all these developments, the NICE quality standards programme was established in 2009.
