National guideline on induced abortion

Evidence-based clinical guidelines represent a fundamental component of the NHS clinical effectiveness (NHS Executive, 1996) and clinical governance (Donaldson and Muir Gray, 1998) initiatives. The clinical effectiveness initiative was built around three themes — inform, change and monitor — with clinical guidelines representing the principal means of informing health-care professionals about the available evidence base on discrete clinical topics. Education and training programmes were seen as the main means of changing practice, and clinical audit the main way of monitoring practice and confirming beneficial changes.