Why all clinical guideline recommendations are ‘Conditional’

Highlights The impact of clinical guidelines on practitioner behaviour and clinical care remains in doubt. The acceptability of a 5‐ or 10‐year delay in producing a ‘strong’ clinically important recommendation is unlikely to hold. Practitioners think holistically, in contrast to the analytical thinking that characterizes clinical research. Rapidly accessible, flexible, ‘knowledge‐in‐practice‐in‐context’ cannot be simply replaced by a focused piece of new research or guideline.