Launch of Implementation Guide

19 Oct 2018

The Department of Health launches an implementation guide and toolkit to support those involved in the development and implementation of national clinical guidelines

The National Clinical Effectiveness Committee in the Department of Health National Patient Safety Office in partnership with the Centre for Effective Services launches an implementation guide and toolkit to support those involved in the development and implementation of national clinical guidelines. The launch takes place at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork on September 19^th, 2018. A half day seminar on implementation science and theory is being hosted in parallel with the launch. Professor Carl May of The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Prof Dinah Gould from Cardiff University and Professor Josephine Hegarty, University College Cork speak to the importance of implementation science and theory in realising the full potential of clinical guidelines. Implementation science is an evolving field of science which seeks to facilitate the conversion of confirmed evidence into practice by patients, providers and health systems in real world situations. Professor Hegarty explains that ultimately the focus is on ‘getting science and evidence into real world clinical practice which requires working with busy clinical teams, different clinical environments and with diverse patient groups’. Implementation science provides the tools to assist such a process.

This implementation guide identifies the best practices based on the current evidence and provides the steps and tools for each stage of implementation of guidelines in the clinical practice setting. Professor Karen Ryan, Chair of the National Clinical Effectiveness Committee welcomed the Implementation Guide, stating that "This is a very practical and useful resource.  Implementation focuses on operationalising a plan – it is about 'how' something will be carried out, as well as 'what' will be carried out".  In the end, real change is more likely to happen when we provide those at the centre of the change process the necessary tools to facilitate the change process.