Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his department is taking to help ensure the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended diabetes care guidelines are adhered to.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines provide recommendations on best practice in terms of both the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions and services. Guidelines describe best practice and National Health Service organisations are expected to take them fully into account in designing services that meet the needs of their local populations.

NICE guidance is not mandatory because it is designed as evidence-based advice to inform, rather than replace, clinical judgment, allowing for tailored care for individual patients. Guidelines cannot cover every unique patient scenario, and clinicians must maintain responsibility for treatment decisions.