Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that the merging of ICBs will not result in wider use of BMI as a pre-requisite for joint replacement surgery in England.

It is the responsibility of individual integrated care boards (ICBs) to determine clinical commissioning policies, such as eligibility for joint replacement surgery, for their local areas, including when an ICB is the result of a merger.

As with all surgery, body mass index (BMI) should be considered as part of a holistic, personalised perioperative evaluation of the risks versus the clinical need for joint replacement surgery of an individual patient. As per National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, BMI should not be considered in isolation as a barrier to surgery.

As part of the National Health Service Elective Reform Plan, the Government has committed to expanding access to the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme for patients waiting for hip and knee replacements. This will help optimise patients for their surgery, potentially leading to a reduced length of hospital stay and minimising their risk of post-operative complications.