Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure that surgeons in England are able to consult NICE guidelines on both mesh and non-mesh hernia repair.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance and advice on the use of hernia mesh and non-mesh hernia repair, including laparoscopic surgery for inguinal hernia repair and interventional procedures on the reinforcement of a permanent stoma with a synthetic or biological mesh to prevent a parastomal hernia. NICE is not currently developing new guidance on hernia repair.
Clinicians are expected to take NICE’s guidance fully into account in the care and treatment of individual patients. NICE’s updated guidance is communicated to the National Health Service and in the case of common procedures, such as groin hernia repair, is highlighted directly by the Royal College of Surgeons.