Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to update the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for generalised anxiety and panic disorder; and what representations they have made, if any, to NICE regarding review of those guidelines.

The Department has made no assessment of the potential merits of updating the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on generalised anxiety and panic disorders, and has not made any representations to NICE regarding a review of the guideline.

NICE is an independent body and is responsible for keeping its guidelines up to date in light of new evidence. NICE keeps its guidance under active surveillance and decisions on whether published guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence are taken by the NICE prioritisation board, chaired by the NICE Chief Medical Officer, in line with its published prioritisation framework. There are currently no plans to update the guideline on generalised anxiety and panic disorder.

NICE is currently updating or reviewing several guidelines related to mental health conditions, including its guidelines on bipolar disorder, psychosis and schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder.