UK's NICE launches two on-line databases

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the UK advisory body responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of drugs and clinical treatments in England and Wales, has launched two new on-line databases which it claims will "support the implementation of guidance."

The first database is called Shared Learning and contains examples of local implementation projects across the National Health Service and other government-funded health care programs. As the name implies, its objective is to enable the spread of good practices across the UK. The database can be accessed via the Internet at: www.nice.org.uk/sharedlearning.

The second database is the evaluation and review of NICE implementation evidence available at: www.nice.org.uk/ernie. According to the NICE, ERNIE "provides a bank of guidance-specific implementation uptake reports produced by NICE and references to external studies looking at how [the] NICE guidance is being implemented." External studies are categorized according to whether the NICE's guidance is being correctly implemented, offering the following graduations: practice appears to be in line with guidance; doubts about or mixed impact in practice; and not graded, insufficient evidence to make assessment.