National Referral Protocol

This National Referral Protocol (NRP) aims to ensure equity of access to the procedures listed within it.

By practising Realistic Medicine we can deliver the best outcomes for the people we care for based on what matters to them and their capacity to benefit from their treatment and care options. Ensuring appropriate access to interventions will also contribute to a more sustainable health and care system by helping to reduce waste.

Realistic Medicine is also the foundation of Realistic Medicine: Taking Care - Chief Medical Officer for Scotland Annual Report 2023-2024. This is the care we must aspire to provide consistently across Scotland. By doing so, we can deliver better value care for both the people we care for and our healthcare system.

Evidence based medicine sits at the heart of Realistic Medicine. Under this umbrella of evidence-based practice, there are treatments where current evidence suggests that the majority of people are unlikely to benefit clinically, and good outcomes will be limited to a small number of people. 

This National Referral Protocol (NRP) contains a series of procedures where evidence suggests that there is less clinical benefit and as such, they must not be routinely offered by NHS Scotland.

By practising Realistic Medicine we can deliver the best outcomes for the people we care for based on what matters to them and their capacity to benefit from their treatment and care options. Evidence based practice sits at the heart of Realistic Medicine and helps us to optimise resources and achieve outcomes that people value.

Under this umbrella of evidence-based practice, there are treatments where current evidence suggests that the majority of people are unlikely to benefit clinically, and good outcomes will be limited to a small number of people.