Prescribing Decisions: Should we comply with guidelines?

Clinical guidelines provide recommendations for choosing and implementing high quality and often cost-effective care for a variety of clinical conditions, both in the long and short term. Guidelines demonstrate the benefit of collaborative working between healthcare professionals, professional bodies, commissioning groups and patients/carers, who review all the best available evidence, recognising the need to standardize cost effective care, regarding prevention, diagnosis, and management.¹

However, not all guideline groups represent a cross section of professionals working and may seek to appoint their own representatives to assist in the development of guidance. In contrast, there are challenges and limitations regarding the implementation of guidelines which can affect practitioners’ compliance.²