NICE process and methods
4 Topic identification, selection and prioritisation for good practice guidance
4 Topic identification, selection and prioritisation for good practice guidance
4.1 Topic selection and prioritisation
The identification and selection of relevant and appropriate good practice guidance topics and associated outputs will follow the following process.
Stage 1 – Identification of potential topics
The NICE Medicines and Prescribing Centre will annually produce a list of potential topics which will include National Prescribing Centre legacy good practice guides identified through a structured review process (see section 4.2). Stakeholders, including government departments, NHS organisations and professional bodies will be invited to submit suggestions for topics for consideration. The invitation will remain open to stakeholders for 8 weeks. The following exclusion criteria will be applied to this list to create a long list of potential topics:
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specific drug-related topics
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topics that have been included within existing NICE publications
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guidance would fall within the domain of other agencies or national bodies.
Stage 2 – Prioritise topics
The following inclusion criteria will then be applied to the long list to produce a short list of potential topics:
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safety concerns relating to systems and processes associated with medicines and prescribing
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gap between evidence and practice
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identifiable inappropriate variation in practice across the country
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relevant priorities set out by the NHS Commissioning Board
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topics referred for urgent consideration by NHS Commissioning Board or Department of Health.
Prioritisation of topics on the short list will be determined and recorded by the NICE Medicines and Prescribing Centre team.
Stage 3 – Formal selection of topic
The short list and supporting rationale will be reviewed by the Director of the Centre for Clinical Practice. Final selection of topics will be agreed by the NICE Senior Management Team.
Stage 4 – Topic scheduling
Selected topics will be scheduled for production. The NICE Medicines and Prescribing Centre Medicines Advice Associate Director will plan a programme of work and identify key NICE Medicines and Prescribing Centre personnel and resources to deliver outputs. The production process is outlined in section 5.
Figure 1. Flow-chart showing main steps in process for topic selection for good practice guidance
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