The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has introduced its new Standard for Clinical Practice Guidelines to streamline health professional’s access to diagnostic information and treatment.

 

The NHRMC guidelines sets out the best quality process Australian health professionals will follow and will be aimed at bringing together the latest research and current clinical practice.

 

“Health practitioners and consumers need to be confident that the guidelines they rely on incorporate the best available scientific evidence and are developed using rigorous methods,” NHMRC Chief Executive Officer, Professor Warwick Anderson said.   

 

“The 2011 NHMRC Standard is intended to be the ‘gold standard’ for guidelines developed in Australia. It draws on international best practice to support Government health reform by contributing to an evidence-based and high performing health system.”

 

The new Standard was revised after a period of targeted consultation and is aligned with international best practice.  It makes explicit a number of mandatory requirements that a guideline must meet when it is assessed for NHMRC approval.  It also outlines some desirable requirements that developers may choose to meet to further improve guideline quality and implementability.

 

The 2011 NHMRC Standard will replace the NHMRC standards and procedures for externally developed guidelines (2007), and will apply to all clinical practice guidelines seeking NHMRC approval.

 

More information, including a summary document and the 2011 NHMRC Standard, can be accessed at: http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/information-guideline-developers.

 

The standard can be ordered here