THE SCOTTISH RADIOLOGICAL SOCIETY |
Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)Note: As of June 2004 Dr Christine Walker has taken over as radiology lead from Dr Joanna Wardlaw. Latest Update, July 2004I would like to circulate everyone with a reminder that it is essential radiologists get involved in the guideline development process. S Guy & Prof J Wardlaw's paper Clin Rad 2002 Oct;57(10):1381-7. quantifies how little represented radiology has been. Anyone can propose a guideline. The SRS would be the best forum for identifying any areas of particular radiological interest/impact which would be suitable. As new guidleines come on stream it would be helpfull if I knew who would be interested / willing to have their names put forward to be part of the development group. There is a substantial amount of work involved. I will circulate the new topics when I know. In the meantime I would welcome any general notes of interest. SIGN guideline on Hepatitis C. Radiology and Oncology Input is VitalThe Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) was set up in 1993 to establish effective clinical guidelines. It now has an international reputation for robust guideline methodology. The ethos of SIGN is to produce guidelines that are relevant to day-to-day practice and which will help us all deliver the best evidence-based care. SIGN (like the SRS) is based at, but separate from, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Each guideline is written by a multidisciplinary committee, which should consist of representatives of ALL the staff who are likely to be affected by its recommendations. There is a strong emphasis on "ownership" of each guideline. The members of each guideline committee are therefore chosen carefully to represent the staff of different disciplines who will use the finished document. One of the most important parts of the 2-3 year process of guideline construction is the national meeting, held once a working draft guideline has been produced. This is a chance for people to criticise the contents and wording of a new guideline, and highlight problems while there is still a chance to make alterations. We will publicise forthcoming national meetings relevant to Radiology/Oncology at this site. For those unable to attend these meetings, we can circulate the draft guidelines for comments that can be fed back to the writing committee prior to the final version being produced. More information and published guidelines in pdf file format can be downloaded from the SIGN website (www.sign.ac.uk). It is essential that Radiology/Oncology are well represented at all stages in the guideline production process, otherwise we may end up with guidelines that are difficult to implement, or do not adequately reflect the need for, or use of, radiology or oncology. SIGN Council meets three times a year to discuss proposals for new guidelines and to ensure balanced representation on each new guideline committee. Your representatives on SIGN Council are Christine Walker (Clinical Radiology) and Grahame Howard (Clinical Oncology). Please contact them if you have any queries about new guideline proposals, comments on guidelines under development, or comments on the need to revise existing guidelines.
Consultant Radiologist Howard, Grahame
Clinical Director For more information, please contact: Tel: 0131 247 3658 SIGN News ArchiveNational Meetings 2003
Notes from SIGN Council Meeting of 12th June 2002The major topic of discussion was a survey recently undertaken by the Quality Standards Board for Scotland (QSBS) on implementation of guidelines. The survey sought information from Health Boards on whether or not they had mechanisms in place for implementing guidelines. The full details are to be published by QSBS in July. The survey was interesting because although about two thirds of Health Boards indicated that they did have mechanisms in place, only about a third of SIGN guidelines had actually been implemented. The survey was able to identify key factors associated with the likelihood of being able to implement guidelines and also factors associated with failing to implement guidelines. Although much of the subsequent discussion concerned ways of encouraging Health Board managers and administrators to implement guidelines, in fact it requires action on the part of individuals at all levels, across disciplines and professions. This is particularly relevant to radiologists, because the speciality is so short staffed, we may have difficulty in attending meetings where guideline implementation might be discussed by clinicians and then decisions presented as a fait accompli to radiology departments. There will be a meeting to discuss ways of improving guideline implementation organised jointly by SIGN and the QSBS on 5th November 2002 at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. Lead clinicians and clinical directors as well as managers will be invited automatically. Further information should be available in the early autumn for others also interested in attending. I would be grateful for any feedback you have on experience of trying to implement guidelines or factors which you perceive to be either facilitatory or to create barriers. Professor Joanna M Wardlaw, June 2002 January 2002The new Chairman of SIGN is Professor Gordon Lowe, who is a vascular physician at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and well known nationally and internationally. He takes up the Chairmanship following the death of the founder of SIGN, Professor Jim Petrie, last autumn. Forthcoming new SIGN Guidelines and National meetings relevant to SRS members include:
Please note: draft guidelines are routinely available on the SIGN webpage to download and comment on from the date of their national meeting for a period of three weeks. For example, the following draft guidelines will be available to download from the SIGN webpage for a period of three weeks from the following dates:
You can download the draft of the guideline from the SIGN webpage, comment on any radiological aspects (or lack thereof when maybe there should be!) and send your comments to the SIGN Secretariat. SIGN are keen to encourage the widest possible consultation so please feel free to comment. The SIGN webpage is at www.sign.ac.uk; look under guidelines and development process and click on national meeting. Although the guideline can only be downloaded for a period of three weeks from the above dates, comments will be received for some time after that. The osteoporosis, melanoma, dysphagia and ovarian cancer guidelines all have a radiologist on the writing panel. However, anyone interested in attending any of these national meetings, or commenting on the draft guidelines, please contact me and I will make sure that you receive relevant information. Thanks very much to all the people who helped with the autumn national meetings. Professor Joanna M Wardlaw, January 2002 August 2001Forthcoming new SIGN Guidelines and National meetings relevant to SRS Members include
Worryingly, although colorectal cancer, dyspepsia and epilepsy have a radiologist on the guideline writing committee, asthma does not. The asthma guideline is being produced jointly with the British Thoracic Society and will be for UK wide use. Ideally we need each of the guidelines to be formally reviewed from the radiological perspective, especially the ASTHMA one. I have not seen any of them yet so have no idea of what howlers they may contain. Also if someone is keen enough to also go to any of the above national meetings, that would be great. If you contact me by email or phone in the first instance, I can get the relevant information sent out. Joanna Wardlaw, August 2001 Back to News Page |
© The Scottish Radiological Society
Author : Dr A C Downie