Musculoskeletal guidelines - Public consultation
Welcome to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Musculoskeletal guideline public consultation and thank you for taking the time to provide feedback in the development of the national guidelines. The main purpose of the consultation process is to receive comment on how the guidelines can be improved to make them most effective for the intended audience.
The RACGP expert working groups with the support of a project team have developed DRAFT guidelines for general practitioners and other primary care health professionals. The project is funded by the Department of Health and Ageing. The guidelines focus on the early diagnosis and management of four conditions: osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and osteoporosis. The four guidelines are being developed to the requirements of the National Health Medical Research Council (NHMRC). This consultation is a critical part of the guideline development process.
The survey will be available online until Sunday 18 May 2008. All received comments will be provided to the NHMRC and the individual working groups at the end of the consultation period. The responses will not be provided outside these groups.
You are asked to provide some basic demographic information to help us better understand your needs and concerns. Different surveys have been developed for different groups so it is important that you identify whether you are a consumer, health professional, academic, etc. The reason for asking your e-mail address is that we can contact you later for clarification (if necessary) and also let you know about any changes and the availability of the final product.
If you are experiencing any technical difficulties, please contact the RACGP IT department at web.admin@racgp.org.au. If you have any general questions, please contact Dr Jiri Rada at jiri.rada@racgp.org.au.
Each guideline consists of scope statements and methods, algorithms (flowcharts), and recommendations (these may include good practice points and/or cautions). Unless specifically asked about individual segments of the guideline, please comment on the overall document. You will also have the opportunity to comment on the literature review and the full recommendation (with complete evidence, grading procedure and references) – this is optional.
We greatly appreciate your time and your expertise.
Completing the questionnaire will take between 15 and 25 minutes and you can add and change your comments on the survey before submitting them or return at a later stage using your e-mail address.
Questions in this survey have been sourced from AGREE1 and GLIA2.
1. The AGREE Collaboration. Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation (AGREE) Instrument. London: www.agreecollaboration.org; 2001.
2. Shiffman RN, Dixon J, Brandt C, et al. GuideLine Implementability Appraisal (GLIA). New Haven, CT: Yale Center for Medical Informatics; 2005.
