Quality standard
Quality statements
Quality statements
Statement 1 Primary care services have an approach to risk stratification for young people and adults presenting with a new episode of low back pain with or without sciatica.
Statement 2 Young people and adults with low back pain with or without sciatica do not have imaging requested by a non-specialist service unless serious underlying pathology is suspected.
Statement 3 Young people and adults with low back pain with or without sciatica are given advice and information to self-manage their condition.
Statement 4 Young people and adults are not given paracetamol alone, gabapentinoids, antiepileptics or antidepressants to treat low back pain without sciatica.
Statement 5 Young people and adults are not given opioids to treat chronic low back pain without sciatica.
Statement 6 Young people and adults do not have spinal injections for low back pain without sciatica with the exception of radiofrequency denervation for people who meet the criteria.
NICE has developed guidance and a quality standard on patient experience in adult NHS services (see the NICE Pathway on patient experience in adult NHS services), which should be considered alongside these quality statements.
A full list of NICE quality standards is available from the quality standards topic library.