Exploring the involvement and perceptions of professional stakeholders on NICE clinical guidelines

<jats:title>English</jats:title> <jats:p>This article gives an insight into the effectiveness of stakeholding from the perspective of 15 professional bodies for the allied health professions, health visiting, health scientists, midwifery and nursing in the development of National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) clinical guidelines. The findings reveal that larger professional bodies had embedded stakeholder relations within business plans while smaller organisations, with minimal infrastructure and reliant on voluntary activity, had difficulty participating. Stakeholding highlighted the challenge for research-emergent professions of making their evidence count within guideline methodology. The recommendations about understanding the purpose and problems of stakeholding are likely to be transferable to other contexts.</jats:p>