Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to (a) Electroconvulsive Therapy for Depression: A Review of the Quality of ECT versus Sham ECT Trials and Meta-Analyses, published by Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry on 2 April 2020, and (b) A second independent audit of electroconvulsive therapy in England, 2019: Usage, demographics, consent, and adherence to guidelines and legislation, published by Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice on 16 March 2021, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the use of electroconvulsive therapy in cases of depression.

We have no plans to do so. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for assessing the safety and efficacy of treatments. NICE provides guidelines on when doctors should consider using electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) based on the available clinical evidence. Its guidance ‘Depression in adults: recognition and management’, includes recommendations on when ECT could be considered a treatment option for complex and severe depression. The Department expects commissioners and providers of services to pay due regard to these guidelines, which are kept under regular review.