Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of CCGs and NHS trusts setting higher thresholds for NHS treatment of tonsillitis than for private treatment.

The Department has made no such assessment.

Tonsillitis can usually be treated either with self-help at home, or in a primary care setting. In certain circumstances, a tonsillectomy may be required. Regardless of the type of provider, clinicians are also expected to use their clinical judgement when deciding how best to treat a patient, based on the presenting symptoms.

Clinical commissioning groups, who are responsible for commissioning most non-specialised, secondary care services, set their own criteria regarding the thresholds for National Health Service-funded tonsillectomy, taking into account any relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines or good practice guidance.