This year sees SIGN celebrate 25 years producing high-quality evidence-based guidelines to help healthcare professionals provide safe, effective, person-centred healthcare in NHSScotland. Over the last 25 years we have produced more than 150 guidelines on topics as diverse as cancer, heart disease, mental health and diabetes. We have also addressed more specific topics such as early management of head injury, hepatitis C and urinary tract infection, and addressing the range of services where healthcare is delivered. These are available online, in an app, and as printable documents. SIGN guidelines are well known and used internationally. However, they are primarily developed to improve healthcare in Scotland. It’s been a journey of learning, growth, sharing what we learn and looking at new ways to get our guidelines into the hands of people who can make a difference to the care people receive.
“Over the last 25 years we have produced more than 150 guidelines on topics as diverse as cancer, heart disease, mental health and diabetes. We have also addressed more specific topics such as early management of head injury, hepatitis C and urinary tract infection, and addressing the range of services where healthcare is delivered.”
It’s also been a journey of listening. Recently we surveyed over 600 users of SIGN guidelines in Scotland and they told us about the different ways they use our guidelines:
- As a professional development resource to educate themselves and keep up-to-date with current best practice
- To underpin the creation of something else, such as a local protocol
- For clinical decision making both during and outside the consultation with a patient, for example in multidisciplinary team meetings.
This tells us that our guidelines are about up-skilling our care professionals, as well as directly improving people’s care.
We also found that the majority (81%) of people using our guidelines had applied a SIGN guideline in their practice. The top three attributes of our guidelines that helped them to implement a SIGN guideline were:
- it was easy to find,
- it had clear guidance, and
- the robustness of the SIGN methodology.
Sixty percent of respondents told us they had changed their practice as a result of a SIGN guideline. The most common type of change was at an individual level such as in their prescribing or management of particular conditions. The next most common was at a service level. The guidelines have been incorporated in care pathways, screening programmes and have been used to secure funding to change service provision.
This is really encouraging news as it tells us we are developing products that are valued and used by those they were created for.
We also got confirmation from this survey about the awareness and usage of the range of SIGN products. The full guideline and quick reference guide (QRG) were the most well-known and used of the range of SIGN products. Ninety percent of respondents were aware of the QRG and 87% said they had used one. The full guideline was the most well-known and used with 97% of survey respondents being aware of them and 90% reporting having used one.
“The guidelines have been incorporated in care pathways, screening programmes and have been used to secure funding to change service provision.
This is really encouraging news as it tells us we are developing products that are valued and used by those they were created for.”
There are still things we need to work on. The patient version of our guidelines and our SIGN app are less well known. Fifty eight percent of respondents were aware of the patient versions and only 38% had used one. Forty four percent of respondents were aware of the app and 25% had used it.
We know that empowering patients is important for health and social care in Scotland, and we’ll look at more ways that we can help to be part of this transformation.
“We’re looking forward to the years ahead with optimism and we’ll continue to embrace the need for creativity in how we respond to the needs of SIGN users and how we keep awareness of our guidelines strong. And continuing to listen to you, the users of our guidelines.”
We would encourage people to go the website and check out the range of SIGN products. Copies of all of them can be downloaded from the website or hard copies of the QRG and patient versions can be ordered freely from SIGN. Also, the SIGN app is regularly updated when new guidelines are published and is designed for contemporary life and the growing use of gadgets by our health and care professionals. Remember that the SIGN app, once installed, is not reliant on wifi for use.
We’re looking forward to the years ahead with optimism and we’ll continue to embrace the need for creativity in how we respond to the needs of SIGN users and how we keep awareness of our guidelines strong. And continuing to listen to you, the users of our guidelines.
John Kinsella is the Chairman of the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN).
More information
Healthcare Improvement Scotland Blog 