National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is the independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on the promotion of good health and the prevention and treatment of ill health.

NICE provides audit support for all its technology appraisals, clinical guidelines and selected interventional procedures and public health guidance. The aim of the audit support is to make the process of developing clinical audit projects easier through the provision of ready-to-use criteria, including exceptions, definitions and data source suggestions.

HQIP works closely with NICE and has a shared interest in the national drive to improve quality of care for patients through clinical audit. Through our partnership, we intend to join up the development and delivery of the national clinical audit programme and local audit support with NICE efforts to support the implementation of relevant guidelines.

We have an annually agreed programme to work together in the areas of strategic development and forward planning, communications planning, development of local audit support, standards and evidence-based indicators, and where appropriate develop guidance specific online educational tools.

As part of this work, a memorandum of understanding has been agreed. The purpose of this memorandum is to formally set out the collaboration between NCAAG, HQIP and NICE to enhance the impact that clinical audit has on improving the quality of care for the benefit of patients.

Memorandum of understanding

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