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Report of the High Level Group (HLG) on Clinical Effectiveness

There is variation in clinical practice in the NHS and in the treatments that patients receive. Some of this may be appropriate but patients may also receive treatments which are not very effective or for which there is no evidence, or they may not get treatments which are effective. Patients have the right to expect the same high standard of care and treatment wherever they access NHS services. It is also important for the NHS to make best use of resources by adopting effective therapies and abandoning ineffective interventions.

This was the focus of the chapter ‘Waste Not, Want Not’ in the Chief Medical Officer’s 2005 Annual Report On the state of the public health. Ministers asked the CMO to set up a High Level Group (HLG) to report to him on the scope for improving clinical effectiveness in the NHS and to make recommendations for future action. The HLG included members from key bodies such as NICE and the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement as well as key individuals working in the field of clinical effectiveness and public health.

The HLG found that there is much work already being undertaken by a range of organisations and some good examples in local organisations. It also found that there is no ‘single bullet’ to address the issue of clinical effectiveness. This is a complex issue. Staff in the NHS need to be empowered locally to take ownership of the agenda and promote clinically effective practice. The report makes a number of recommendations on:

• aligning national activities and support
• promoting local ownership
• ensuring clinical engagement
• harnessing the capacities of academia
• the research agenda.

The CMO has accepted the recommendations and will take these forward in conjunction with the new Health Innovation Council. He has also announced a call for proposals to pilot ‘Academic Health Centres of the Future’, bringing together academia and the NHS across the health community covered by the Centre.

• Download Report of the High Level Group on Clinical Effectiveness (PDF, 1011K)