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In your responses to the 2006 readership survey, you highlighted that coverage of a greater breadth of clinical guidance was important to you. Therefore, alongside regular articles on NICE, SIGN, and professional body guidelines, a number of working party guidelines have been featured this year.

At the NICE conference this month it was acknowledged that development of NICE guidelines can take a long time, leaving a gap in the clinical areas covered. We feel that articles on working party guidelines are important as they help to fill this knowledge gap until the national guidelines are released. Our featured working party guidelines have included osteoporosis in post-menopausal women, neuropathic pain, swallowing difficulties, and the phase out of CFC-containing inhalers for patients with asthma.

The challenge of guideline implementation has long been recognised by Guidelines in Practice and was also a key message at the NICE conference. With its newly launched booklet ‘How to change practice’, NICE aims to provide practical advice for healthcare professionals to help them understand, identify and overcome barriers to change.

The Guideline Revisited series in Guidelines in Practice, introduced this year, also highlights the local problems that implementing each guideline can bring, and provides details of the resulting improvements in patient care. To support you further in the development of your own local strategies we will continue to showcase examples of successful local initiatives such as those featured in the Guidelines in Practice Awards series.

Finally, with the next round of QOF revisions eagerly awaited, the GMS contract series in 2008 will help to explain what the changes are and how they should be incorporated into your clinical practice.G

Julia Morris, Editor
julia.morris@mgp.ltd.uk