A clinical practice guideline on acutely ill patients in hospital is being developed for use in the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Registered stakeholders for the acutely ill patients in hospital guideline are invited to comment on the provisional 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 recommendations presented here do not constitute the Institute's formal guidance on this topic. The recommendations are provisional and may change after consultation.

Consultation dates:  5 April 2007 – 3 May 2007

Consultation documents:

• Full guideline
• Appendices to full guideline
• Comments proforma

The full version describes the evidence and views that have been considered, and sets out the provisional recommendations that have been developed.

Points to consider in the consultation:

Full version

• Points or areas that are not covered, but which appear to fall within the scope of the guideline
• Potential inconsistencies or any disagreement with the Guideline Development Groups interpretation of the evidence
• The practical value of the provisional recommendations.

How to submit your comments:

Please use the comments proforma and return by email to aip@nice.org.uk or on a disk to:

Emma Banks
Guidelines Coordinator
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
Peter House
Oxford Street
Manchester
M1 5AN

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 guideline is published
• Personal, individual comments will be forwarded to the Patient and Public Involvement Programme 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 your comments have been safely received.

Anticipated publication date: July 2007

Further  information

• More information on NICE’s guideline development process