Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the draft NICE guidance on Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm and in particular, the impact of the proposal to group regulated and non-regulated products on standards of patient care.

We have made no such assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service. NICE’s guidance is based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and is developed through extensive engagement with stakeholders. NICE has not yet published its final guideline on abdominal aortic aneurysm and has recently consulted publicly on its draft guidance. NICE will take the comments it has received in response to the consultation fully into account in finalising its guideline.