Executive summary
For UK clinicians, the process of finding trusted medical guidance is undergoing a fundamental shift. The traditional "where do I look?" map has long been anchored in a core set of authoritative sources: the comprehensive national recommendations of NICE, the pragmatic point-of-care summaries of CKS, the rigorous Scottish guidelines from SIGN, and the definitive prescribing information in the BNF.
Now, a new generation of AI search engines for clinical guidelines is emerging. These tools add a powerful new layer of speed, natural language understanding, and the ability to synthesise information from multiple sources. This article will map out the current landscape, provide a practical "use this for X" guide for both traditional portals and new AI tools, and outline the essential safety caveats—governance and provenance—that must underpin any new technology used in clinical practice.
How clinicians find guidance today (UK)
NICE guidelines: scope and search patterns
NICE guidelines are the evidence-based national recommendations that underpin policy, care pathways, and quality standards in the NHS. They are developed through a rigorous, transparent process and represent the definitive position on a topic. Clinicians typically search for a specific guideline (e.g., "NICE intrapartum care summary NG121") when they need to understand the full rationale and evidence base for a particular care pathway (NICE).
NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS): point-of-care synopses
While NICE guidelines provide the "why," NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS) provide the practical "what to do now." With over 370 topics, CKS is designed for primary care and first-contact clinicians, offering concise, step-by-step guidance for common presentations. It's the go-to resource for a rapid, evidence-based overview of diagnosis and management (CKS).
SIGN (Scotland): condition-specific guidelines
The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) produces high-quality, evidence-based guidelines that are highly respected across the UK. They often cover specific clinical areas with immense depth and can be a valuable complement to NICE guidance. Clinicians can find current and archived guidelines on the SIGN website (sign.ac.uk).
BNF: medicines guidance and dosing at speed
For any question related to medicines, the British National Formulary (BNF) is the undisputed source of truth. It provides essential information on dosing, interactions, contraindications, and administration. Its treatment summaries are particularly useful for a quick overview of prescribing for a specific condition (BNF).
Pain points with today’s search flow
The primary challenge with the traditional workflow is fragmentation. A single clinical query—for example, managing a new condition in a patient with renal impairment—might require a clinician to open multiple browser tabs to check the CKS summary, the full NICE guideline for context, and the BNF for a specific dose adjustment. Under time pressure, this can be inefficient and increase cognitive load.
Enter AI clinical search: what changes and what does not
AI clinical search is designed to solve this fragmentation problem. Using natural-language queries, these tools can search across multiple trusted sources simultaneously, retrieve the relevant information, and synthesise it into a single, coherent answer—with citations.
The space is evolving rapidly, with new platforms and major partnerships shaping the future. For example, the partnership between the global publisher Elsevier and the AI company OpenEvidence to enhance ClinicalKey AI demonstrates a clear trend towards integrating powerful AI search into established medical content libraries (Fierce Healthcare, Axios).
However, it is crucial to distinguish between evidence retrieval and decision automation. The non-negotiable principle for any safe AI search tool is provenance: it must always show its work by providing clear citations back to the primary source documents.
Comparative workflow: CKS/NICE/SIGN/BNF vs AI search
| Use Case | Best Traditional Tool | When to Use an AI Search Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Definitive national policy | NICE Guidelines | To quickly find and summarise a specific section within a long guideline. |
| "What do I do now?" (Primary Care) | NICE CKS | To ask a nuanced question that might be covered across several sections of a CKS page. |
| Specific Scottish guidance | SIGN Guidelines | To compare a SIGN recommendation with a NICE guideline on the same topic. |
| Dosing & interactions | BNF | To ask a complex prescribing question that involves multiple factors (e.g., age, weight, renal function) and get a cited summary. |
| Complex, multi-source query | Multiple tabs (NICE+CKS+BNF) | To ask a single, natural-language question spanning multiple sources, then verify the answer via the provided citations. |
Safety, governance and trust signals to require from any AI search
For an AI guideline search to be safe for clinical use, it must have these mandatory features:
- Explicit citations to the original NICE, CKS, SIGN, or BNF source page.
- Date-stamping to show the last time the source material was reviewed.
- Update logs or clear versioning information.
- The ability to abstain from answering when it is uncertain or cannot find a relevant guideline.
- Direct links to the source pages for easy, one-click verification.
Practical mini-playbooks
“Summarise NICE NG196 in 60 seconds—what’s changed since 2021?”
Use an AI search to get a rapid overview of a major guideline update, focusing on the key changes in recommendations.
“CKS vs NICE on asthma management: do they disagree and why?”
Use an AI search to compare the practical, primary-care focus of CKS with the comprehensive recommendations in the full NICE guideline.
“SIGN vs NICE on diabetes: which do I follow?”
If you practice in Scotland, SIGN is your primary guidance. Elsewhere in the UK, NICE is the standard. Use an AI search to quickly identify any significant differences if a patient is moving between regions.
“BNF dosing for apixaban in renal impairment—quick check + source link.”
Use an AI search for a fast, conversational check of a specific dose, then click the provided BNF source link to verify before prescribing.
“Ask an AI search engine: ‘What is first-line for hypertension in pregnancy per NICE/SIGN? Provide citations only.’ ”
Use a clear, direct prompt to get a fast, evidence-based answer, ready for verification.
The near future: from portals to proactive answers
The trend is clear: the future of clinical search is a hybrid model. AI will increasingly act as the intelligent "front door," providing rapid, synthesised answers, while the primary sources like NICE, CKS, SIGN, and the BNF will remain the essential, verifiable ground truth. This convergence promises to enhance the speed, equity, and auditability of clinical decision-making.
FAQs
- Is CKS the same as NICE guidelines?
- No. CKS provides concise, practical summaries for primary care, produced under licence for NICE. The full NICE guidelines are the comprehensive, formal national recommendations.
- Can I access CKS outside the UK?
- Access to the NHS version of CKS is typically restricted to the UK. Subscription-based access for international users may be available via third-party providers.
- What’s the difference between SIGN and NICE?
- They are separate bodies with different jurisdictions (Scotland and England/Wales, respectively), though both produce high-quality, evidence-based guidelines.
- When should I trust an AI clinical answer?
- Only when it provides clear, verifiable citations to a trusted primary source like NICE, CKS, SIGN, or the BNF, and includes recent update stamps.