Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle the time taken to diagnose and treat (a) Crohn's disease, (b) ulcerative colitis and (c) irritable bowel syndrome.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are working closely with front-line clinical experts, patient representative groups and leading charities, to develop evidence-based tools to help improve care for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. This work includes a new IBD RightCare scenario, which will set out high-quality joined-up care at every point of the patient journey, including diagnosis. In addition, NHS England and NHS Improvement have produced IBD data packs for local commissioners. These packs present data from different parts of the care pathway to help local systems identify the factors driving variations in treatment, as well as narrative on how outcomes can be optimised.