Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will direct the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of emerging novel antibiotics in order to prove their value and inform the appropriate adoption of such products within the parameters of local and national NHS antibiotic stewardship programmes.

The Department welcomes new developments in antibiotic treatments. We will work to ensure that promising new treatments are referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, where appropriate.