NICE News for Health and Social Care - June Newsletter
Green light for oral treatment to prevent migraines
We've recommended rimegepant for preventing episodic migraine where at least 3 previous preventive treatments have failed. Our final draft guidance recommends it for adults who have at least 4 migraine attacks per month but less than 15. In England, over 5.6 million people are thought to have episodic migraines and it is estimated that 190,000 migraine attacks are experienced every day. Our guidance opens the way for up to 145,000 people in England to choose rimegepant as an NHS treatment.
New decision aid on sleeping pills
We've published a patient decision aid and a 1-page summary on withdrawal symptoms and dependence on sleeping medications. It aims to guide discussions between clinicians and patients who have been prescribed benzodiazepines or z-drugs (zolpidem or zopiclone). Our clear and easy to use interactive guide helps people understand the benefits and risks of staying on their current dose, reducing their dose, or stopping taking the drugs altogether.
Our international partnerships
Learn about the global partnerships that are enabling NICE to remain at the forefront of guidance development methodology. We speak with Meindert Boysen, NICE's head of international affairs, and Dr Nicole Mittmann, vice president of scientific evidence, methodologies and resources at CADTH - Canada's drug and health technology agency.
Listen to the international podcast
Social care
Learning Disability Week - quick guides to help you
Learning Disability Week took place this month (Monday 19 June to Sunday 25 June). The theme for 2023 was 'Busting myths about life with a learning disability.'
NICE has produced 2 quick guides to help support practitioners and commissioners in this area:
Person-centred future planning - a quick guide for practitioners supporting people growing older with learning disabilities.
Arranging services for people with a learning disability and behaviour that challenges - a quick guide for commissioners.
Supporting our social care colleagues
July is Good Care Month. It aims to acknowledge our hard-working social care workers and the services they provide to those in need throughout the UK.
Here at NICE, we work with the adult and children's care sector to develop independent recommendations for social care. As well as our social care guidelines, we've also created a range of practical tools and resources including:
Quick guides to social care topics. These short, visual guides contain key information about social care topics. We produced them with the Social Care Institute for Excellence.
Social care trainers' resource. Find content to use in your training, including links to guidance and standards, resources to download, and tips on finding guidance.
GO Online inspection toolkit. Bringing together best practice recommendations, resources, and practical examples to help social care providers prepare for Care Quality Commission inspection.
Events
Webinar: NICE is transforming - an update on our progress and future ambitions
Hear directly from our chief executive, Dr Sam Roberts, at this free webinar.
Monday 10 July 2023, 4pm to 5pm, online.
You'll discover:
how we’re ensuring our guidance is relevant and timely
our plans to support a system under pressure
our priorities: focusing on what matters most, creating useful and useable advice, continually learning from data and implementation.