Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of updating National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on anxiety.

The Government has made no such assessment. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines are developed independently by experts based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and through extensive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. They represent best practice and healthcare professionals are expected to take them fully into account in the care and treatment of their patients. 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 or panic disorder.