NICE is currently updating its guidance on Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms for use in the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland following new evidence identified related to the use of Phophodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5Is). NICE has developed new draft recommendations, which have been published for consultation, to directly address this issue.

Registered stakeholders for this guideline are invited to comment on the provisional recommendations. Individuals and organisations not registered as stakeholders are not able to comment. We recommend that you register as a stakeholder or contact the registered stakeholder organisation that most closely represents your interests and pass your comments to them.

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: 3 February – 5 pm 3 March 2015

Consultation documents:

• Addendum
• Draft NICE guideline
• Comments proforma

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

The NICE version presents the updated recommendations alongside existing recommendations that will be retained for publication.

Comments on the original guideline, as opposed to the consultation addendum or draft NICE version, will not be considered.

Points to consider in the consultation:

• Potential inconsistencies or any disagreement with the Committee’s interpretation of the evidence.
• The practical value of the provisional recommendations.
• Do you think this guidance could be changed to better promote equality of opportunity relating to age, disability, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, religion and belief, sexual orientation or socio-economic status?

In answering this question, please include details of:

• Which particular parts of the guidance you think affect equality of opportunity?
• Why and how you think equality of opportunity is affected?

How to submit your comments:

Responses to the draft Addendum document must be submitted using the comments proforma(Word version only, PDFs not accepted) ensuring all relevant fields are completed.

Completed comment proformas must be returned to DCYPupdate@nice.org.uk by 5pm on 3 March 2015 at the very latest in order to be considered.

The Institute is unable to accept:

• Comments from non-registered organisations / individuals – if you wish your comments to be considered please register your organisation as a stakeholder via the NICE website or contact the registered stakeholder organisation that most closely represents your interests and pass your comments to them
• Comments received after the consultation deadline (5pm)
• Comments that are not on the correct proforma
• Comments on the original guideline
•  More than one response per stakeholder organisation
• 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 eligible comments  will be sent to the developers at the end of the consultation
• Comments from registered stakeholders and nominated expert reviewers ONLY will be formally responded to by the developers and posted on the NICE website at the time the guideline is published.
• No action will be taken upon receipt of personal, individual comments, comments from non-registered organisations and late comments
• Please note: The Institute reserves the right to summarise and edit comments received during consultations, or not to publish them at all, where in the reasonableopinion of the Institute, the comments are voluminous, publication would be unlawful or publication would be otherwise inappropriate.

Comments received in the course of consultations carried out by the Institute are published in the interests of openness and transparency, and to promote understanding of how recommendations are developed. The comments are published as a record of the submissions that the Institute has received, and are not endorsed by the Institute, its officers or advisory committees.

Anticipated publication date: 13 May 2015

See here for more information on NICE’s guideline development process.