Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce national standards for hepatitis C treatment.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been asked to develop a clinical guideline on the diagnosis and management of hepatitis C that may form the basis for a future NICE quality standard on hepatitis C.

NHS England is responsible for the direct commissioning of some services and all drug based treatments for individuals with hepatitis C. This includes the publication and implementation of national specifications and clinical commissioning policies, providing consistent standards of care for patients within England. National specialised commissioning policies and specifications are kept under regular review, and are updated, if required, following the publication of new NICE technical appraisal guidance. NHS England is continuing to work with other commissioning bodies to improve the co-ordination of care for this group of patients.