Developing the new NICE database
Keir Shillaker (NICE Manager)
January 2008
Introduction
The purpose of this brief report to NMMG is to show what information the NICE database contains and how this supports the evidencing of Standards for Better Health
The NICE database at present sits within the Department of Clinical Effectiveness and is accessible to all staff in the department. It is currently being populated with data relevant to individual pieces of NICE guidance. This process will continue throughout the lifespan of the database.
Main Records
Figure 1: The NICE Database home page
This is the central ‘lobby’ of the NICE database, allowing the user to navigate to other pages on the database. The area that contains the information relating to individual pieces of NICE guidance is held in the ‘Go to records’ section.
Figure 2: CG21 Falls Record Main Page
Each piece of released and announced NICE guidance has a main page as indicated above using CG21 Falls as the example. This page covers the key summary information for that piece of guidance such as:
Code – the NICE prefix given to the guidance
Name – the full name of the issued guidance
Applicability tick box – to assess relevant to HDFT
Date Issued – the date NICE released it
Status – whether the guidance is published or not
Compliance Level – how compliant HDFT is with the guidance
Achievement Level – what degree of partial achievement exists if Compliance Level is ‘Partially Compliant’
Web – the hyperlink to the guidance on
There are two sub-pages that divert from the record main page. Firstly ‘Compliance Information’:
Figure 3: CG21 Compliance Information Sub-page
This sub-page gives further detailed information relating to the ownership of the guidance including Lead Clinician, Lead CBU and Lead Specialty.
It also provides a facility to find on what date the guidance was assigned to the clinician/CBU/specialty, on what dare the lead clinician was asked to provide a statement of compliance and the date this was returned.
The ‘Key Issues’ box is taken word-for-word from the clinician’s response to the guidance and varies in detail depending upon their response. This information should be supportive of the clinician’s statement of compliance.
Figure 4: CG21 Evidence Information Sub-Page
This sub-page provides information relating to, and links to the available evidence to support the statement of compliance for the relevant piece of guidance.
The page indicates whether an audit has been conducted relating to the guidance, the date it was carried out (approximately) and the date of a re-audit if scheduled. The audit itself can then be accessed via the ‘Audit Results’ box.
Figure 5: CG21 Audit Results Evidence Sub-Page
CG21 also has evidence relating to a Summary Document completed by the lead Clinician which is accessible in the same manner as t he above
The Summary proformas provide information gathered in the August-September 2007 snapshot exercise during which clinicians were asked to briefly comment on the compliance status of their practice with NICE guidance.
Figure 6: CG21 Summary Proforma Evidence Sub-Page
There are three other evidence sections available in the Evidence Sub-Page. The ‘Other Correspondence’ box is used sparingly on occasions whereby further relevant information is available that does not fir into any of the other boxes.
‘Proforma Information’ is used to hold information relating to a detailed breakdown of an individual piece of guidance’ compliance status. The example below is from TA125 Psoriatic Arthritis.
Figure 7: TA125 Proforma Information Evidence Sub-Page
‘Formulary Information’ is used to hold information relating to any drug procedures that follow NICE guidance, thus supporting the compliance status. The example below is from TA52 Myocardial Infarction – Thrombolysis:
Figure 8: TA52 MI Thrombolysis Formulary Evidence Sub-Page
Additional Documents
NICE Definitions and working documents – this section allows the user to access the definitions of partial achievements and examples of the proformas used in the evidence gathering process.
Figure 9: NICE Definitions and Working Documents Page
NICE Policies and Reports – this section allows the user to access the HDFT NICE Policy, 2007 Monitoring Report and other useful documentation such as minutes of the NMMG, NICE Performance Indicators and Training information.
Figure 10: NICE Policies and Reports Page
Reports
Run Queries – this section allows the user to access subject specific summaries relating to the NICE guidance in the records section. This includes levels of compliance, CBU summaries, breakdown by Type of Guidance, Dates of publication and completion of audits.
Figure 11: Run Queries Page
For example by clicking on the ‘Compliant’, ‘Medicine’ and ‘2007’ buttons the following pages appear:
Figure 12: Using Queries Sub-Pages
Next Steps
The database is currently being populated to increase the level of evidence available to support each piece of NICE guidance, whilst also catering for new NICE announcements and releases.
It is hoped that once a greater level of information is retained in the database it will be easy to track progress against NICE for CNST, Healthcare Commission, CBU and individual clinical needs.
Keir Shillaker, January 2008
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