NICE and the other NCCs
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) was established as a Special Health Authority for England and Wales on 1 April 1999. It is part of the NHS and provides authoritative and reliable guidance on healthcare for patients, healthcare professionals and the wider public. One of its core responsibilities is to produce clinical guidelines to improve the quality of clinical care.
NICE guidelines are evidence-based, systematically developed statements that assist clinicians and patients in making decisions about appropriate healthcare for specific clinical circumstances. The advice contained must be derived from the best research evidence available using predetermined and internationally agreed methods, and including consideration of cost-effectiveness.
There are 4 professionally led National Collaborating Centres (NCCs) established to support the delivery of NICE guidelines.
- National Clinical Guidelines Centre for Acute and Chronic Conditions
- National Collaborating Centre for Cancer
- National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health
- National Collaborating Centre for Women's and Children's Health
More information about the NICE Clinical Guideline programme can be found on the NICE web site.
