Modern Service Frameworks: raising the standards of care

Modern Service Frameworks aim to make high-quality care more consistent across England. Deputy chief medical officer, Judith Richardson explains how NICE guidance is helping turn evidence into practical service improvement.

Every day, practitioners make decisions about patient care based on the evidence and guidance available to them, but that information can come from different evidence sources meaning that the care that follows is not always consistent.

Modern Service Frameworks (MSFs) aim to change that, by bringing the best available evidence together in one place for each priority area, using the evidence base as a backdrop to support service implementation.

MSFs are a key vehicle for delivering the ambitions of the government's 10 Year Health Plan for England. Each one sets out what good care looks like across an entire pathway or service, bringing together evidence, best practice and system-wide expertise.

There are 6 priority areas in total:

- cardiovascular disease

- sepsis

- severe mental illness

- frailty and dementia

- end-of-life care

- children and young people.

For each one, MSFs bring together experts from national bodies, clinicians, commissioners, professional organisations and wider system partners. The goal is to create a shared understanding of what best practice looks like, so that millions of patients across the country will have equal access to the best care, based on the latest evidence.

This is where NICE comes in.

Why NICE?

NICE's role in the MSFs is to bring the latest evidence into the service design, making sure each framework is built on the strongest foundation possible. NICE guidance underpin the frameworks, helping to identify where further implementation, new or updated guidance may be needed.

For NICE, MSFs represent something important: evidence that our guidance doesn't just sit on a shelf. When an MSF is built on our guidance and quality standards, it means our recommendations are actively shaping how the NHS organises and delivers care for millions of people.

But it's not a one-way process. MSFs give organisations the chance to work together around a shared goal, improving outcomes for patients, and that collaboration helps NICE prioritise its own work too, whether that's updating existing guidance or developing something entirely new.

No 2 frameworks are the same, so NICE's contribution varies depending on the topic and the outcomes needed. Sometimes that means embedding existing guidance. Sometimes it means spotting gaps in the evidence. Sometimes it means scoping out priorities for the future. NICE responds to what each framework needs, not a fixed template.

Where things stand today

All 6 frameworks are due to be published this year, and 2 are already out. The cardiovascular disease and sepsis frameworks were published last month, marking the programme's first milestones.