The Evidence-based Interventions programme is an initiative led by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges to improve the quality of care.
Created by both doctors and patients, as the name suggests, it is designed to reduce the number of medical or surgical interventions as well as some other tests and treatments which the evidence tells us are inappropriate for some patients in some circumstances. We also know that sometimes these interventions can do more harm than good.
As well as improving outcomes it also means we can free up valuable resources so they can be put to better use elsewhere in the NHS. This is going to be more important than ever as the NHS recovers from the impact of Covid-19 and restores services.
It is a joint enterprise between national partners; The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), NHS Clinical Commissioners (NHSCC), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as well as NHS England and Improvement.
Expert Advisory Committee
The EBI programme is supported by the Expert Advisory Committee (EAC). The EAC is an independent, expert committee comprising clinicians, guideline producers, commissioners, patients and academics. It was established in 2019, to provide independent advice and guidance to the Evidence-Based Interventions programme (EBI).
The Expert Advisory Committee’s role is to provide expert advice to the Evidence Based Interventions programme. In particular to:
- Recommend a list of interventions that are available on the NHS and which are proven to be inappropriate that should not be routinely commissioned or should only be commissioned in specific circumstances to reduce patient harm, unnecessary intervention and to free up clinical time
- Draft clinical guidance based on rigorous evidence and balanced consensus amongst patients, clinicians and commissioners
- Facilitate a public and system consultation on the guidance and incorporate feedback from the consultation to produce EBI guidance on specific interventions that should not be routinely commissioned and/or the criteria for when interventions should be commissioned
- Maximise the implementation of evidence-based guidance to reduce unnecessary and inappropriate interventions
- Supporting the EBI programme, including public engagement, as appropriate.
EAC membership
Chair(s)
Professor Martin Marshall, Co-Chair.
Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners and Professor of Healthcare Improvement, UCL
Professor Sir Terence Stephenson, Co-Chair.
Chair of the Health Research Authority and Nuffield Professor of Child Health, UCL
Members
Dr Martin Ashton-Key, Key Scientific Director and Consultant in Public Health Medicine at NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Co-ordinating Centre. NIHR
Dr Ganesan Barani, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Leeds and Elected Board Member for the Faculty of Pain Medicine, Royal College of Anaesthetists
Professor Adam Elshaug, Professor in Health Policy and Director, Centre for Health Policy, University of Melbourne
Pam Essler, Patient representative
Professor Danny Keenan, Medical Director, Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership
Dr Sarah Markham, Patient representative
Professor Neil Mortensen, President, Royal College of Surgeons of England
Dr Ash Paul, Public Health Consultant, South West London CCG
Eric Power, Programme Director, Centre for Guidelines, National Institute for Health and
Care Excellence
Dr Josephine Sauvage, Clinical Commissioner, NHS North Central London CCG
Dr Paul Shekelle, Professor of Medicine, University of California and Physician Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation
Dr Catherine Thompson, Director for the Improving Planned Care Programme and Clinical Commissioner, West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership
Professor Cheng-Hock Toh, Academic Vice-President, Royal College of Physicians
April Wareham, Strategic Co-production Group, NHS England and NHS Improvement
Dr Tim Wilson, Managing Director Oxford Centre for Triple Value Healthcare and Honorary Clinical Fellow University of Oxford