A clinical practice guideline on nutrition support is being developed for use in the NHS in England and Wales. Registered stakeholders for the nutrition support guideline are invited to comment on the provisional guideline recommendations via this website.

Although individuals and organisations not registered as stakeholders are able to comment, we recommend that you contact the registered stakeholder organisation that most closely represents your interests and pass your comments to them. We work closely with stakeholder organisations and take their views very seriously.

• List of registered stakeholders and information on the progress for this guideline topic

Note that the provisional guideline recommendations presented here do not constitute the Institute's formal guidance on this guideline topic. The recommendations are provisional and may change after consultation.

Consultation dates: 26 August - 27 September 2005

Consultation documents:

• Full guideline
• Appendices
• NICE guideline (short version)
• Information for the public
• Comments proforma

The full version describes the evidence and views that have been considered, and sets out the provisional guideline recommendations that have been developed - these may have been revised in the light of comments made during the first consultation period.

The (NICE) short version presents the provisional guideline recommendations only with some brief supporting information. Again the recommendations may have been revised following the first round of consultation. (It is the finalised short version that is issued to the NHS as guidance.)

The Information for the Public has been prepared to help people who may be affected by the guideline recommendations understand what the provisional recommendations mean; this information was not available during the first consultation period.

Points to consider in the second consultation:

During this consultation period, you may want to:

• review the changes that have been made to the full guideline and/or the short version
• comment on the key recommendations for implementation selected by the guideline developers
• comment on the usefulness of the information that describes the provisional guideline recommendations in easy-to-understand language (Information for the Public)
• make final comments on the guideline prior to publication.

How to submit your comments:

Please use the comments proforma above and return by email to nutritionsupport@nice.org.ukor on a disk to:

Sarah Dunsdon
Guidelines Coordinator
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
MidCity Place
71 High Holborn
London
WC1V 6NA

The Institute is unable to accept:

• more than one response per stakeholder organisation
• comments received after the consultation deadline
• comments that are not on the correct proforma
• confidential information or other material that you would not wish to be made public
• personal medical information about yourself or another person from which your or the person's identity could be ascertained.

What will happen to your comments:

• All comments (with the exception of personal, individual comments) will be sent to the developers at the end of the consultation
• Comment from registered stakeholders ONLY will be formally responded to by the developers and posted on the NICE website after the final guidelines are published
• Personal, individual comments will be forwarded to the Patient Involvement Unit for NICE, who will consider them when making their response.

Acknowledgement of comments:

You should receive an automated acknowledgement from the email box when you email your comments. If you do not receive this acknowledgement, please contact the relevant Guidelines Coordinator to ensure they have been safely received.

Anticipated publication date: February 2006

Useful links

• Some frequently asked questions on our clinical guidelines
• More information on NICE's guideline development process