National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

NICE publishes draft scope for new guideline on cannabis-based products for medicinal use

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a draft scope for its upcoming guidelines on cannabis-based products for medicinal use.…

Ward-based pharmacists are beneficial and cost-effective

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline NG94, published in March 2018, focused on organising and delivering emergency and acute medical care for people aged over 16 years in the community and in hospital[1] . The main aims of the guideline were to reduce the n…

NICE guidelines on antidepressant withdrawal in ‘urgent need of correction’, say researchers

More than half of antidepressant users experience withdrawal, with the majority of these describing their withdrawal as ‘moderate’ or ‘severe’, according to results of a systematic literature review of 23 studies.…

Charity launches petition calling for NICE to rethink MS drug decision

The MS Society has launched a petition calling for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NHS England and drug manufacturer Roche to rethink the decision to reject the first treatment to be licensed for the treatment of primary progressive multiple sclerosis.…

OTC remedies and honey rather than antibiotics for acute cough, says NICE and PHE

Over-the-counter cough medicines and honey, not antibiotics, should be the first-line treatment for coughs, according to draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and Public Health England.…

NICE amends standard on medicines management in the community following feedback from PSNC

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has amended a draft quality standard on medicines management for people receiving social care in the community, removing a proposal that pharmacies should consider supplying printed medicines administration records for patients.…

Economic evidence supports enhanced services in community pharmacy

In March 2018, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its guideline NG94: ‘Emergency and acute medical care in over 16s: service delivery and organisation’. In this guideline, two chapters focused on pharmacy’s contribution to the delivery of emergen…

Standards must be aligned for high-tech health aids to succeed, NICE conference told

Standards for apps and wearable technologies, agreed by bodies such as NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, should be aligned to maximise their health improvement potential, delegates at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence annual conference were told on 26…

We are concerned about the shortage of buprenorphine tablets

Buprenorphine is one of the two medicines licensed for opioid misuse that is recommended by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, and the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) ‘Orange Book’. The cost of generic buprenorphine sublingual tablets has risen shar…

NICE depression advice could ‘seriously impede’ care, say experts

The latest NICE draft guidelines on adult depression are “not fit for purpose”, say leading mental health experts.…