The Government has announced a €2.5 million investment over the next four years in the Centre for Clinical Evidence Reviews (CICER). This funding will support the evidence and research group’s work in advancing clinical evidence.
CICER provides evidence to inform national clinical guidelines through the national clinical effectiveness committee (NCEC). The NCEC was established in 2010 by the Minister for Health and is supported by the Department of Health. It is responsible for assuring the quality of national clinical guidelines for use in healthcare in Ireland.
The €2.5 million investment will be awarded by the Health Research Board (HRB) following an open competition.
This award will build on research funding from a previous competitive process spanning the period from 2017 to 2024, when CICER, which was formed in 2017, supported the development of national clinical guidelines to improve patient safety.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said:
“In an age of disinformation, gathering high-quality, evidence-based information is more important than ever. Clinical guidelines based on the best available evidence help our healthcare workers provide healthcare that is up-to-date, effective, and consistent.
“Implementing these guidelines can improve health outcomes for patients, reduce variation in practice, and improve the quality of clinical decisions.”
CICER will:
- Conduct systematic reviews of clinical and cost-effectiveness of interventions.
- Estimate the budget impact of implementing guidelines.
- Provide tailored training sessions to guideline development groups.
- Review international clinical guidelines for adaptation to Ireland.
- Assist with the development of evidence-based recommendations for NCEC national clinical guidelines.
To date, the NCEC has published 30 national clinical guidelines.
CICER is led by Dr Máirín Ryan of HIQA, and comprises scientific and clinical co-applicants from HIQA, Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and the RCSI. The team also includes international experts from the UK, Canada and Australia in areas such as economics, evidence synthesis and guideline development, and close collaboration with the HSE will ensure that the guideline development and dissemination process is informed by the healthcare implementation context in Ireland.
Dr Mairead O’Driscoll, Chief Executive at the HRB, added:
“The HRB is delighted to support this initiative, which will continue to provide high-quality, dedicated and timely evidence support for the national clinical effectiveness committee and guideline development groups.
“A key feature in this phase of investment is to enhance the role of CICER within the national and global evidence ecosystem. Through connecting with other centres in the wider evidence support and methodological research community, CICER can enhance coordination, reduce duplication and advance best practice in evidence support for guideline development”.
HIQA’s Director of Health Technology Assessment and CICER principal investigator, Dr Ryan, said:
“National clinical guidelines assist providers and patients in making informed choices about care, driving quality, safety and best use of available resources in healthcare. Since its formation in 2017, CICER has provided rigorous methodological support to over a dozen national clinical guidelines, from diabetes care to systems for early detection and management of clinical deterioration in hospitals.
“This new HRB grant will support patient and public involvement and allows us to continue synthesising up-to-date international evidence to inform crucial decisions for patients in Ireland”.
Prof Susan Smith of TCD, who is clinical lead of the CICER programme, said:
“CICER will continue to help in the development of evidence-based guidelines for clinical colleagues and will improve outcomes for our patients. CICER has an excellent track record in this area and will continue to innovate, contributing to the advancement of clinical guideline development internationally in the years ahead.”
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