Evidence based practice updates - 7 March 2013

New guidelines, research and other tools and updates on evidence based techniques and processes from across the UK. For more information about this theme see Quality and Safety e-Bulletin: evidence based practice.

Some of the resources linked to are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.

BBC: Poor sleep linked to heart failure, Norwegian study says. A study published in European Heart Journal which followed more than 50,000 people for 11 years, shows that people who have trouble drifting off to sleep may be at increased risk of heart failure.

BBC: Stomach cancer ‘spotted by breath test’. Study findings published in the British Journal of Cancer reveal that a simple breath test can diagnose stomach cancer. “Scientists from Israel and China found the test was 90% accurate at detecting and distinguishing cancers from other stomach complaints in 130 patients”.

BioMed Central adds new psychology journal. BMC Psychology is the first dedicated open access psychology journal of its kind. It will focus on the medical and biological aspects of psychology and will also make a policy of accepting negative studies.

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making: In pursuit of certainty: can the systematic review process deliver?  This paper presents a discussion of the SR process in providing decisive information to shape and guide clinical practice, using a purpose-built review database: the Cochrane reviews; and focussing on a highly prevalent medical condition: hypertension. This study "questions the utility of evidence-based approaches as a uni-dimensional approach to improving clinical care and underscores the importance of standardised approaches to include adverse events, incidence of harm, patient’s needs and preferences and clinician’s expertise and discretion".

Cabinet Office: New world leading evidence centres to drive better decisions across £200bn of public services. National government and local public services will benefit from access to a world leading network of centres providing robust, comprehensive evidence to guide decision making on £200bn of public spending. The What Works Network, a key action in the Civil Service reform plan, will consist of two existing centres of excellence – the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the Educational Endowment Foundation – plus four new independent institutions responsible for gathering, assessing and sharing the most robust evidence to inform policy and service delivery in tackling crime, promoting active and independent ageing, effective early intervention, and fostering local economic growth.
Policy paper: What Works: evidence centres for social policy. This paper outlines the background to the centres and how they are being established.
Nesta: Making evidence useful: the case for new institutions. This brief paper outlines why these centres are needed, the role they will play, and how they will build upon the work already underway and complement existing institutions.
Nesta: Alliance for Useful Evidence. The Alliance formed by a partnership of Nesta, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Big Lottery Fund champions the use of and demand for evidence that is rigorous, accessible and appropriate. It is linking with organisations that are already doing good work in this field and promoting learning and collaboration across.

Cochrane Collaboration: Celebrating twenty years of the Cochrane Collaboration. As part of a series of events to mark this anniversary, a video series has been commissioned focusing on the ideas, achievements and people that have contributed to its growth since 1993. Every two weeks throughout 2013, one of a series of twenty-four short videos (5-10 minutes each), based around nearly a hundred interviews with Cochrane contributors from all over the world, is being released.

Global Health Action: Improving the use of health data for health system strengthening. Accurate and timely data from health information sources are essential to health systems. This paper from Global Health Action employs the organizing framework of a logic model to facilitate the systematic demand, synthesis, review, and use of data. The model describes activities and interventions to strengthen the use of health data in decision-making.

Implementation Science: Measuring factors affecting implementation of health innovations: A systematic review of structural, organizational, provider, patient, and innovation level measures. This systematic review identifies studies on the use of measures to assess constructs predicting the implementation of evidence-based health innovations. Results indicate that organization, provider, and innovation-level constructs have the greatest number of measures available for use, whereas structural and patient-level constructs have the least.

Implementation Science: Need to Knowledge (NtK) Model: an evidence-based framework for generating technological innovations with socio-economic impacts. This study develops a framework for technological innovation that uses a practical three-stage methodology: research generates conceptual discoveries; engineering development generates prototypes; and industrial production generates commercial innovation. The authors believe the Need to Knowledge (NtK) Model will bring increased returns in technology programs expressly intended to have a socio-economic impact.

INVOLVE: New direction for learning and development. Report of a workshop held in January looking at the potential for a more coordinated approach across the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to supporting learning and development for members of the public, researchers and research support staff. 

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR): Primary care interventions – call for research proposals. The NIHR issued a call for research to evaluate health care interventions or services delivered in primary care settings, on 28 February 2013. A specification document is available along with Frequently Asked Questions. The call closes on 22 May 2013.

NHS Evidence: Evidence updates. Two new updates:

NICE: NICE good practice guidance on patient group directions - stakeholder registration. NICE is developing good practice guidance on patient group directions (PGDs). This good practice guidance will provide recommendations on the systems, processes and legislation relating to developing, authorising, using and updating PGDs by providers of NHS services, to ensure that patients receive appropriate and timely access to their medicines. The process includes a four week period of consultation starting in March. The final version will be published in June. To submit comments during the consultation, an organisation must register as a stakeholder for this guidance. To register your organisation as a stakeholder* send registration details (name of organisation, name of contact, email address) to pgd@nice.org.uk  using the subject heading Patient group directions GPG stakeholder registration 2012/13. If you would like any further information regarding the project, please contact the project team via pgd@nice.org.uk.

NICE: Epilepsy quality standards. These new quality standards consist of a prioritised set of specific, concise and measurable statements that, when delivered collectively, aim to contribute to improving the effectiveness, quality, safety and experience of care for people with the condition.
Quality standard for adults (QS26)
Quality standard for children and young people (QS27)
Commissioning guide CMG47: Services for the diagnosis and management of epilepsies in adults, children and young people. Updated guide to support the integrated commissioning of high-quality, evidence-based services.
Press release: Epilepsy services should be coordinated across whole care pathway, say NICE in new quality standard.
News: Improving the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. Recent research has found that that the number of children being treated with epilepsy has fallen dramatically in the last decade. The researchers believe that NICE's guideline on epilepsies has helped reduce the number of children recorded in primary care falsely diagnosed with the condition.

NICE: NICE to review QOF indicators for cardiovascular disease. In order to help improve health outcomes for patients with the CVD, the Department of Health has launched a new strategy featuring 10 key actions. Among these is for NICE to review the current indicators for CVD in the QOF - which rewards GP practices for the care they provide to patients - in order to ensure that the best treatments are offered in primary care.

NICE: New stroke prevention treatment recommended by NICE. Patients with atrial fibrilation can now be offered apixaban (Eliquis) as an alternative to warfarin to reduce the risk of stroke and blood clots.

NICE: Asthma quality standard could “change lives of millions” . NICE's quality standard on asthma could improve the lives of millions by driving up the quality of care for people with the condition. The quality standard for asthma contains 11 measures to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of the condition in adults, young people and children.

Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN): SIGN Guidelines app additions. The award-winning SIGN Guidelines app has recently been updated and now includes the suite of coronary heart disease (CHD) guidelines. These are: 97 Risk estimation and the prevention of cardiovascular disease; 96 Management of stable angina; 95 Management of chronic heart failure; 94 Cardiac arrhythmias in coronary heart disease; 93 Acute coronary syndromes (updated February 2013)