The Department of Health in Ireland has announced an investment of €2.5m ($2.7m) in the Centre in Ireland for Clinical Evidence Reviews (CICER), to bolster patient safety through improved national clinical guidelines.
The funding has been allocated by the Health Research Board (HRB) over four years.
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CICER’s mandate includes conducting systematic reviews on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of healthcare interventions, evaluating the financial impact of guideline implementation, and providing custom training for guideline development groups.
The centre will also adapt international clinical guidelines for Irish healthcare and aid in crafting evidence-based recommendations for the National Clinical Effectiveness Committee (NCEC) National Clinical Guidelines.
The NCEC has so far published 30 such guidelines.
Ireland Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said: “Clinical Guidelines based on best available evidence help our healthcare workers provide healthcare that is up-to-date, effective, and consistent.
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By GlobalData“Implementing these guidelines can improve health outcomes for patients, reduce variation in practice, and improve quality of clinical decisions.”
The latest funding signifies the continuation of a successful partnership between the NCEC and the HRB, with the first phase, spanning from 2017 to 2024, having already laid a solid foundation.
The initial investment supported the creation of National Clinical Guidelines that have been key in standardising clinical practices, enhancing health outcomes, and improving the quality of clinical decisions across various medical domains.
These domains mainly include emergency medicine, infection prevention, stopping smoking, and cancer care.
Dr Máirín Ryan of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) leads CICER, which has a team of scientific and clinical experts from Trinity College Dublin, HIQA, and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Furthermore, the collaboration extends internationally, with specialists from Canada, the UK and Australia contributing their expertise in economics, guideline development, and evidence synthesis.
The partnership with the Health Service Executive (HSE) ensures that the guidelines are developed and disseminated with a clear understanding of Ireland’s healthcare implementation context.
