19 March 2012 Sir Andrew Dillon Chief Executive National Institute For Health and Clinical Excellence MidCity

Place 71 High Holborn London WC1 6NA

Quarry House Quarry Hill Leeds LS2 7UE

Dear Andrew, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH AND CLINICAL EXCELLENCE: WORK PROGRAMME This letter conveys decisions from Ministers on the referral of Quality Standard topics, following advice from the National Quality Board. Referrals Annex A contains details of the Quality Standard topics that Ministers have agreed should be referred to NICEs work programme, following the engagement exercise on the library of topics. This referral includes three pilot topics for NHS-facing Quality Standards on cross-cutting public health topics that Ministers have agreed should be referred to NICEs work programme. Publicity A copy of this referral letter will be placed in the Parliamentary library and a written Ministerial statement will be laid before Parliament. Management arrangements The NICE NHS Quality Standard library will continue to be kept under regular review by the National Quality Board, and agreement of specific targets for the completion of the individual elements of the work programme will be dealt with through the existing performance monitoring structures. NICE should make available to the Department its production schedule for Quality Standards at its earliest opportunity to support monitoring. Please could you ensure that work to develop the detailed scope for each Quality Standard draws on the detailed engagement responses provided by stakeholders ensuring in particular that those Standards intended to cover both adults and children give appropriate weight to both.

Additionally, where there are important gaps in a pathway or clinical area, due to a lack of robust evidence available to shape a Quality Standard, then placeholder statements should be inserted. This approach will help to stimulate a market to develop evidence in those particular areas and that can then be included when the Quality Standard is next reviewed. Yours sincerely,

Simon Reeve Head of Clinical and Cost Effectiveness Medicines, Pharmacy and Industry Group Copies: Gillian Leng NICE Tim Stokes - NICE Nicola Bent NICE Christine Carson - NICE Philip Ranson NICE Wendy Jarrett - NICE

Annex A
Library of topics
Key:

Topics in bold black script = new topics being referred to NICE Topics followed by (P) = Quality Standards now published Topics in italic script = already referred to NICE for Quality Standard development Topics followed by an asterisk (*) = topics provisionally referred to NICE to allow assessment of suitability for Quality Standard development

Category
Cardiovascular

Title Stroke (P) VTE prevention (P) Management of thromboembolic diseases Acute coronary syndromes (including myocardial infarction) Chronic heart failure (P) Pressure ulcers Stable angina Acute heart failure Atrial fibrillation Hypertension Secondary care management of malignant hypertension Lipid modification Secondary prevention of myocardial infarction and cardiac rehabilitation Familial hypercholesterolaemia Risk assessment of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors Peripheral vascular disease Varicose veins Abdominal aortic aneurysm Gastroesophageal reflux disease Ulcerative colitis Cholelithiasis and cholecystitis* Diverticular disease* Acute upper GI bleeding Crohns disease Irritable bowel syndrome Coeliac disease Liver disease (non-alcoholic) Cirrhosis Pancreatitis (including acute pancreatitis) Hernia (including femoral and inguinal)

Gastrointestinal

Category
Respiratory

Title Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P) Asthma (including children) Pneumonia (including community acquired pneumonia) Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Sleep disordered breathing Depression (including with a chronic physical health problem) (P) Bipolar disorder (adults) Bipolar disorder (children and young people) Schizophrenia Alcohol dependence and harmful alcohol use (P) Drug use disorders Dementia Anxiety Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Depression (children and young people) Self-harm (adults) Eating disorders (including children) Personality disorders (borderline and antisocial) Autism (adults) Autism (children and young people) Conduct disorders (children and young people) Self harm (vulnerable groups, children and young people) Epilepsy (adults) Epilepsy (children) Headaches/migraine (young people and adults) Multiple sclerosis Parkinson's disease Faecal incontinence Delirium Management of transient loss of consciousness in adults Motor neurone disease Neurological problems (relatively uncommon neurological problems e.g. muscular dystrophy) Diabetes in adults (including foot care) (P) Diabetes in children and young people Nutrition support in adults Obesity (adults) Thyroid disease Adrenal dysfunction

Mental health

Neurological

Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic

Category
Maternity and reproductive

Title Antenatal care Intrapartum care Postnatal care Induction of labour Hypertension in pregnancy Diabetes in pregnancy Caesarean section Pain and bleeding in early pregnancy Multiple pregnancy Premature labour Antenatal and postnatal mental health Fertility Heavy menstrual bleeding Menopause Endometriosis Contraceptive services (including emergency contraception) Specialist neonatal care (P) Bacterial meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia Bronchiolitis* Premature birth Constipation (children and young people) Neonatal jaundice Nocturnal enuresis Antibiotics for neonatal infection Anaphylaxis Failure to thrive Cystic fibrosis Cerebral palsy Developmental follow-up of pre-term babies Blood transfusion in neonatology Parenteral nutrition in neonates Childhood obesity Urinary tract infection (children) Feverish illness in childhood Gastroesophageal reflux (children) (NB. A number of topics on children and young people are included in other categories)

Neonates and children

Genitourinary

Chronic kidney disease (P) Urinary tract infections* Renal replacement therapy services Renal stones Urinary incontinence (women) Lower urinary tract symptoms Acute kidney injury (non-traumatic)

Category
Cancers and tumours

Title Breast cancer (P) Colorectal cancer Lung cancer Ovarian cancer Prostate cancer Cancer chemotherapy* Haematological malignancies Head and neck cancer Sarcoma Skin cancer (including melanoma) Children and young people with cancer Metastatic spinal cord compression Referral for suspected cancer Radiotherapy services Bladder Cancer Sickle cell crisis Transfusion Osteoarthritis Rheumatoid arthritis Low back pain Seronegative arthropathies Elective joint replacement (hip, knees and shoulder) Glaucoma (P) Macular degeneration Cataracts Hearing loss (adult onset) Tinnitus Eczema in children Psoriasis Acne Hepatitis B Tuberculosis Infection control Surgical site infection and sepsis Head injury Hip fractures Fractures (excluding head and hip)* Major trauma* Resuscitation following major trauma and major blood loss Complex fractures (including compound fractures)

Blood disorders

Musculoskeletal

Eye/vision

Hearing

Skin

Infectious disease

Trauma and injuries

Category
Other/crosscutting

Title End of life care (P) Falls in a care setting Patient experience in adult NHS services (P) Service user experience of adult mental health services (P) Intravenous fluid therapy in hospitalised adult patients Safe prescribing Urgent & emergency care* Perioperative care* Long-term conditions, people with comorbidities, complex needs* Pain management (young people and adults)* Medicines adherence Nutrition in hospital, including young people Managing symptoms with an uncertain cause Diagnosis and management of drug allergy Challenging behaviour in learning disability Mental health problems with learning disability End of life care for infants, children and young people Intravenous fluids in children Provision of termination of pregnancy services Trauma services Acute medical admissions in the first 48 hours Managing the transition from childrens to adult services Consultant review within 12 hours of admission Out of hours care Readmissions Seven day working Readmission to ICU within 48hrs Smoking cessation: supporting people to stop smoking Physical activity: encouraging activity in all people in contact with the NHS (staff, patients and carers) Alcohol: preventing and managing alcohol misuse

Service delivery topics

NHS-facing Quality Standards on cross-cutting public health topics.