Update to the National Clinical Guideline for Stroke 

About 

The National Clinical Guideline for Stroke aims to improve the quality of care delivered to everyone who has had a stroke in the United Kingdom and Ireland regardless of age, gender, type of stroke, location or any other feature. The guideline is an initiative of the Intercollegiate Stroke Working Party (ICSWP) and is regularly updated in a process governed by the ICSWP.   

Scope 

This is a limited update to the fifth edition was published in 2016. The ICSWP decided in early 2021 to restrict the update to those areas where expert consensus from each specialty identified that evidence and practice have changed, rather than to undertake a comprehensive update of the entire fifth edition. 

Representation 

As the guideline’s sponsor, the ICSWP determines the membership of the Guideline Development Group (GDG). The ICSWP’s remit is limited to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The scope of the sixth edition includes Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. The GDG therefore consists of all members of the ICSWP, in addition to two representatives from the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) (one clinical and one allied health professional) and two representatives from the Irish National Stroke Programme (one clinical and one allied health professional). A representative from the ongoing update of the NICE stroke rehabilitation guideline (CG162) attends as a co-opted member.    

This membership means that the GDG has sufficient representation from all British and Irish nations, relevant professional groups, and participation of patients and appropriate voluntary organisations, to facilitate ownership of the guideline development process and sign off the resulting recommendations. Click here to view the GDG membership and affiliations. 

Collaboration 

The update is being facilitated by the guideline project team hosted by SSNAP, in collaboration with Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Irish National Stroke Programme. 

SIGN and the Irish National Stroke Programme are providing support via sharing of good practice, and contributing to project guidance and supporting documentation; and SIGN are supporting the literature searching process.  

Click here to view the 2016 National Clinical Guideline for Stroke