ICNARC's aim is to foster improvements in the organisation and practice of critical care (intensive and high dependency care) in the UK. ICNARC does this through a broad programme of audit and research.ICNARC's aim is to foster improvements in the organisation and practice of critical care (intensive and high dependency care) in the UK.

CNARC exists as a result of the success of the ICS UK APACHE II Study; a large research study, conducted in the late 80s/early 90s, on patient outcomes from intensive care units (ICUs). In 1991, Dr Kathy Rowan, on behalf of the Intensive Care Society (ICS), submitted a proposal to set up a national centre for comparative audit and research in intensive care, to the Department of Health.

As a result of the study, and in response to the lack of information available on intensive care, in 1993 financial support was obtained from the Department of Health and the Welsh Health Common Services Authority for two years - to pump-prime the establishment of ICNARC.

ICNARC was set up in 1994, separate from the ICS, to provide an independent, national resource for the monitoring and evaluation of intensive care. Intensive care practitioners had (and still have) little or no data as to what is, or is not, effective with regard to how intensive care is organised or to the therapies employed.

ICNARC built its initial programme of audit and research around the need to provide answers to these questions:

Current trends within the NHS in the UK are towards improved management of health services and the need to determine whether resources are used appropriately to improve patient outcomes. As one of the most expensive areas of healthcare, these trends are particularly pertinent to critical care.
ICNARC was set up in 1994 as a charitable company limited by guarantee. It is a sister organisation of the Intensive Care Society (ICS) the professional organisation for doctors working in critical care.