Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides

NICE: A new NICE guideline aims to help GPs provide quick, cost-effective treatment to improve the lives of millions of people experiencing common mental health disorders. Common mental health disorders can affect up to 15% of the population at any one time.  They account for 1 in 5 of all work days lost and cost UK employers £25bn each year.
 
Common mental health disorders include depression, generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social anxiety disorder. This new NICE guideline, on the identification of & pathways to care for common mental health disorders, focuses on primary care.
Press release & links
 
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) last week issued final guidance recommending naftidrofuryl oxalate as an option for the treatment of people who have intermittent claudication caused by peripheral arterial disease and for whom vasodilator therapy is considered appropriate after taking into account other treatment options.
Press release & links
 
WAG: Plans to help local authorities and transport providers work with the Welsh Government to protect communities from noise pollution have been published. Organisations will use 2 documents to identify areas for possible mitigation work to reduce noise and specific areas for protection against increases in noise.
Press release & links
 
DH: With summer on the horizon, this year’s Heatwave Plan has been launched by Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley. The annual plan, first published in 2004, is updated each year to provide health & social care services with emergency planning & preparedness guidance in the event of a heatwave.
 
It operates from 1 June to 15 September and is based on information provided by the Met Office.  The Met Office can trigger 1 of 4 alert levels according to ‘threshold temperatures’ that range from the late 20s or early 30s depending on the region.  In summer 2010, the highest recorded temperature was 31.7 degrees Celsius on 9 July in Gravesend, Kent.
Press release & links
Free, Secure, Compliant UK Public Sector IT Recycling Service