NICE is the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care, serving both the English NHS and the Welsh NHS. NICE is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care.

NICE carries out assessments of the most appropriate treatment regimes for different diseases. This must take into account both desired medical outcomes (i.e. the best possible result for the patient) and also economic arguments regarding differing treatments.

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Guidelines covering the therapies carried out by this clinic include:

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Chronic pain (primary and secondary) in over 16s: assessment of all chronic pain and management of chronic primary pain

This guideline covers assessing all chronic pain (chronic primary pain, chronic secondary pain, or both) and managing chronic primary pain in people aged 16 years and over. Chronic primary pain is pain with no clear underlying cause, or pain (or its impact) that is out of proportion to any observable injury or disease.  The guideline can be found here.

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Osteoarthritis: care and management

NICE published a draft guideline on osteoarthritis in April 2022.  Recommendations of the draft guideline include manual therapy (such as manipulation, mobilisation or soft tissue techniques) but only alongside therapeutic exercise and only for people with hip or knee osteoarthritis.   the guideline can be found here.

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Low back pain and sciatica in over 16s: assessment and management

This guideline covers assessing and managing low back pain and sciatica in people aged 16 and over. It outlines physical, psychological, pharmacological and surgical treatments to help people manage their low back pain and sciatica in their daily life. The guideline aims to improve people’s quality of life by promoting the most effective forms of care for low back pain and sciatica.  The guideline can be found here.