Bidding farewell to HDAS and the NICE Evidence Search

As you are probably aware, NICE have taken the decision to close down both the Healthcare Databases Advance Search (HDAS) and the Evidence Search services as of the 31st of March 2022.

HDAS has been a key fixture of database searching for many years, allowing access to all the available databases through a single interface.

For more on the closure of HDAS, NICE has a page which includes information on how to export your saved searches.

From the 1st of April users will need to search using the different interfaces provided by the database suppliers. All of the databases you could previously search in HDAS are easily accessible via the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub with an OpenAthens password.

We have developed a user guide for each of the interfaces which you can find below:

• EBSCO interface for CINAHL
• OVID interface for Medline, Embase, Emcare, AMED, Social Policy & Practice, and HMIC
• ProQuest Interface for PsycInfo

We are also offering training to support users in making the transition to the new interfaces. Contact us if you would like to have some help with searching.

At the same time NICE are also closing their Evidence Search service. Sadly there is not a direct replacement for this, but the TRIP database is similar and well worth a look. You can also find some of the same content via the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub.

If you have any questions or need any help, please contact one of the libraries.

Changes to NHS Evidence

The new NICE Evidence Services site

There are a number of changes being made to NHS Evidence. The service has been re-branded and is now NICE Evidence Services.

Whilst much of the content (as well as the web address) remains unchanged, there are some new additions to the site:

• Clinical Knowledge Summaries have been relaunched. The CKS are aimed at practitioners in primary care and aim to provide high quality summaries of evidence for the 300 conditions most commonly seen in primary care
• Medicines Information. The NeLM (National electronic Library for Medicines) site has been closed down and the content moved into NICE Evidence Services. You can search for information using the NICE Evidence Search, or via the Medicines A-Z list.

Other services available via the site include:

• NICE Evidence Search - the search engine for the site (although you may want to consider TRIP as an alternative)
• Access to electronic journals
• Access to databases, including Medline, the British Nursing Index and the Cochrane Library
• UK Duets which is a database of treatment uncertainties
• Topics A-Z covering clinical and public health information
• QIPP collection including case studies and productivity tools
• Bulletins and Alerts which include, evidence updates and the new Medicines Awareness Service.

New Evidence Updates

NHS Evidence has published two new evidence updates.

Common mental disorders offers a summary of new clinical evidence in relation to NICE Guideline 123 ‘Common mental health disorders: identification and pathways to care’

Hypertension reviews the evidence is relation to clinical guideline 127 ‘Clinical management of primary hypertension in adults’

Evidence Updates do not replace current accredited guidance and do not provide formal recommendations, but they do highlight new evidence that health and social care professionals may wish to consider alongside current guidance.

You can find all of the previous updates on the NHS Evidence site.

NICE evidence summaries for unlicensed/off label and new medicines

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence have just launched two new products to help with medicines management and prescribing.

Evidence summaries: unlicensed/off-label medicines review the best available evidence for selected unlicensed and off-label medicines where there are no clinically appropriate licensed alternatives.

Evidence summaries: new medicines are provided to help make informed decisions and aid local planning on the introduction of key new medicines or existing medicines with new indications or a new formulation. The topics selected are medicines that have recently gone into the UK market, or may be marketed in the UK in the next 6-12 months.

They both offer quality-assured summaries of the best available evidence for selected  medicines. The strengths and weaknesses of the relevant evidence are critically reviewed, but the summaries do not constitute formal NICE guidance.

Eyes on Evidence - October

NHS Evidence

Eyes on Evidence is a free monthly e-bulletin from NHS Evidence which covers significant new evidence as it emerges, with an explanation about what it means for current practice.

In October's issue:

• Weight gain in people who stop smoking
• Risk of thromboembolism after interruption of warfarin treatment
• Cardiac rehabilitation in patients following myocardial infarction
• Use of cervical pessary to prevent preterm birth
• Pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart defects in asymptomatic newborn babies
• Evidence Updates: generalised anxiety disorder in adults and management of stable angina
• Latest news from the the NICE Accreditation Advisory Committee
• Join the NICE fellows and scholars programme

To view the latest edition, browse the archive back to 2009 or subscribe by email, visit www.evidence.nhs.uk/about-us/publications

Latest evidence updates from NICE

NHS Evidence

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence have released their latest evidence updates. The updates cover new evidence relating to NICE guidance. The updates highlight key points from the latest evidence (including the strengths and weaknesses of the research) and importantly, whether the new evidence will have an impact on the current guidance.

The current updates are:

• The management of stable angina
• Generalised anxiety disorder in adults

You can also find a list of all the updates going back a year on the NICE site, arranged by date, alphabetically or by speciality area.

NICE BNF and BNFC apps for smartphones and tablets

The NICE British National Formulary (BNF) and NICE British National Formulary for Children (BNFC) apps have been developed to provide easy access to the latest up-to-date prescribing information from the most widely-used medicines information resources within the NHS. 

Both the BNF and BNFC apps are available to download for free by health and social care professionals who work for or who are contracted by NHS England.

To access the apps you will need an NHS Athens password (NHS staff and attached students can register online). You can find more information about the apps, system requirements and trouble shooting on the NICE site.

Download NICE BNF

BNF: Android smartphone and tablet users

BNF: iPhone and iPad users

Download NICE BNFC

BNFC: Android smartphone and tablet users

BNFC: iPhone and iPad users

NICE have also produced an app allowing access to all of their guidance via smartphones and tablets which

Nice Guidance App

• Browse over 760 items (7000+ chapters) of NICE guidance. Guidance is arranged topically by conditions and diseases, and public health topics
• Rapidly search all NICE Guidance on your smartphone
• Select full guidance documents or selections of individual chapters from guidance documents, bookmark individual sections of guidance chapters for use as offline reference on your smartphone
• Automatically receive updates and new guidance as soon as it's published on the NICE website.

Medicines and prescribing support from NICE

Medicines & Prescribing Centre

The National Prescribing Centre has now been integrated into the National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence. NICE are now offering  a comprehensive suite of advice and support for delivering quality, safety, and efficiency in the use of medicines.

The Medicines and Prescribing Centre at NICE is currently is development and will provide:

• Evidence summaries on new medicines
• Evidence summaries on unlicensed and off label medicines
• Best practice advice for medicines management
• Bulletins and alerts available by email

NICE guidance app launched for smartphones

NICE has launched an app which allows free access to all of its recommendations and advice for healthcare professional users of Android and iPhone smartphones.
 
The app allows users to search, browse and explore 760 pieces of guidance produced by NICE. Guidance is arranged by clinical or public health topic and particular sections can be bookmarked for easy access, or sent via email.
 
Other features include receiving automatic updates and new guidance as soon as it is published on the NICE website, adjustable font size for readability, and the ability to 'swipe' between chapters when looking at guidance.
 
It can be downloaded from Apple's iStore and the Android Market but is not currently optimised for iPad users.

NICE pathways - an easy way to navigate NICE guidance

NICE Pathways is an online tool for health and social care professionals that brings together all related NICE guidance and associated products in a set of interactive topic-based diagrams. The diagrams provide an easier and more intuitive way to find, access and use NICE guidance, enabling users to see everything NICE has published on a particular topic.

 

NICE Depression Pathway

 

Each pathway includes all relevant NICE guidance, including clinical guidelines, public health guidance, technology appraisals, interventional procedures, medical technology and diagnostics guidance, and quality standards, and accompanying tools produced by NICE to support implementation.

 

Currently 17 of NICE's guidelines are covered by the pathway site, but NICE plans to add many more by the end of the year, and ultimately, to have a pathway map for every guideline.

NICE launches new guideline for hip fractures

NICE have launched a new guideline for the treatment of hip fractures that calls for surgery to take place no later than the day after hospital admission. The guideline also states that hospitals should deliver a co-ordinated Hip Fracture Programme to help faster recovery.

You can find the full guideline and all associated documentation on the NICE web site.

NHS Evidence changes - new Library guide available

 NHS Evidence have now launched the new site which has integrated the content from the previous National Library for Health service. The new single site has a very different look and feel with improved functionality.

The databases and journals are now accessed via page on the new site. The actual interfaces for searching both of these remain unchanged.

The Specialist Collections have been replaced by topic pages which bring together different kinds of information on the same subject, such as this one on bipolar disorder. The search engine also features new functionality.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has also launched Nice Pathways. An online tool for health and social care professionals, NICE Pathways brings together all connected NICE guidance on a topic in a user-friendly electronic flowchart.

Previously there has been no easy way to see at a glance everything NICE has said on a specific condition, across all its separate published guidance. Nice Pathways will allow users to quickly view and navigate NICE guidance and other tools on any given topic across an entire care pathway.

We will be revising our user guides and training in the next week or so, but in the mean time we have produced a quick guide to the new site.