NICE guidance provides recommendations across a defined area of care.
NICE quality standards focus on a few key priorities within a defined area of care that are most likely to need improvement, along with providing information about how to measure progress.
If you are a commissioner
They can help you:
- provide assurance that resources are being used wisely, in effective service planning and commissioning
- make sure that providers are offering high-quality care to service users
- identify ways to save money or redirect resources
- effectively target resources at the areas that offer the most substantial health and social care improvement (with NICE quality standards providing a focus for prioritising these)
- meet statutory requirements
- shape the market for health and social care for the benefit of all service users
- use a common framework to work across sector or professional boundaries to solve problems or promote integrated care.
If you are a policy maker
They can help you:
- understand what good care and health improvement provision looks like to inform
policy development - show outstanding performance
- show that evidence underpins your policy
- develop policies that raise standards and improve quality while giving best value for money
- promote economic and social well-being
- use a common framework to work across sector or professional boundaries to solve
problems or promote integrated care.
If you are an advocate for patients or people being supported by social care services
They can help you:
- use NICE guidance to support people using health and social care services to help them understand what good care or support looks like
- use NICE quality standards as a focus for quality improvement when working with others in a user group, patient or community organisation or local HealthWatch
- use both to provide a common framework to work across sector or professional boundaries to solve problems or promote integrated care.
If you are a provider or practitioner
They can help you:
- understand what good care looks like to inform service provision and quality improvement initiatives
- design effective local protocols
- inform your professional judgement and discussion with your patient, service user or carer
- save money or redirect resources
- deliver evidence-based education and training initiatives and show continuing professional development
- provide evidence of good governance, risk management and performance
- prioritise areas for outstanding performance by using NICE quality standards
- use a common framework to work across sector or professional boundaries to solve problems or promote integrated care
- benchmark against or share learning with other providers or practitioners particularly
- when using NICE quality standards to focus on key priorities for improvement
- monitor progress or show compliance – for example with Care Quality Commission (CQC) Fundamental Standards - or to prepare for inspection by the CQC or Ofsted.
If you are using health or social care services or a carer
They can help you:
- understand what good care or support looks like, so that you can feel confident in the care or support you are receiving
- ask questions about your care or support based on what you have a right to expect
- understand your choices and take part in decisions about your care
- know how to seek support as a carer
- play a part in improving your own health and wellbeing and in preventing disease.
If you are working in system transformation
They can help you:
- develop and implement local plans
- show what good services should look like to help inform service and pathway redesign
- identify gaps in service quality, measure improvements and incorporate these into local dashboards
- identify affordable and sustainable interventions that work and offer best value for money.