All evidence tables are in appendices F and G. Summaries of clinical and health economic evidence and quality (as presented in chapters 5-10). Forest plots and summary ROC curves (appendix E). A description of the methods and results of the cost-effectiveness analyses undertaken for the guideline (appendix O). Recommendations were drafted on the basis of the committee s interpretation of the available evidence, taking into account the balance of benefits, harms and costs between different courses of action. This was either done formally in an economic model, or informally. Firstly, the net clinical benefit over harm (clinical effectiveness) was considered, focusing on the critical outcomes. When this was done informally, the committee took into account the clinical benefits and harms when one intervention was compared with another. The assessment of net clinical benefit was moderated by the importance placed on the outcomes (the committee s values and preferences), and the confidence the committee had in the evidence (evidence quality). Secondly, the committee assessed whether the net clinical benefit justified any differences in costs between the alternative interventions. When clinical and health economic evidence was of poor quality, conflicting or absent, the committee drafted recommendations based on its expert opinion. The considerations for making consensus-based recommendations include the balance between potential harms and benefits, the economic costs compared to the economic benefits, current practices, recommendations made in other relevant guidelines, patient preferences and equality issues. The consensus recommendations were agreed through discussions in the committee. The committee also considered whether the uncertainty was sufficient to justify delaying making a recommendation to await further research, taking into account the potential harm of failing to make a clear recommendation (see section 4.5.1 below). Chronic Heart Failure Methods NICE 2018. All rights reserved. Subject to Notice of rights. 