BEST PRACTICE
Implementing guidelines: what works
1 The Seaside Child Development Centre, Brighton General Hospital, Brighton, UK
2 Department of Clinical Health Psychology, Treliske Hospital, Truro, UK
Correspondence to:
For correspondence:
Dr E A Livesey
Consultant Community Paediatrician, The Seaside Child Development Centre, Brighton General Hospital, Elm Grove, Brighton BN2 3EW, UK; anne.livesey@southdowns.nhs.uk
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Clinical guidelines can lead to improved health care, but many guidelines are not effectively implemented. We examine what is involved in implementing guidelines and the evidence about the commonest and most effective methods for doing this, illustrated with clinical examples from paediatric practice where possible. Although the evidence for what works is incomplete, it provides some important pointers for clinicians who are nowadays faced with numerous guidelines.
BACKGROUND
Clinical practice guidelines are systematically developed statements which assist clinicians and patients in making decisions about the appropriate management of specific conditions and situations with the aim of improving the quality of health care.1 They provide guidance or advice, rather than instructions, and are aids to and not substitutes for clinical judgment. Ideally they are evidence-based, but some may be based on clinical consensus.
There is a strong expectation that well-developed clinical guidelines will contribute to improved standards of clinical practice and outcomes.
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