Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce (a) infection and (b) disease after tonsil removal operations.

The reduction of infection and disease following tonsil removal operations should be part of good medical and nursing practices and are already covered by a number of professional codes for example, hand hygiene, routine observation of surgical site and vital sign observations.

In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced the following guidelines to reduce surgical site and healthcare associated infection:

-Surgical site infections: prevention and treatment (CG74 – published October 2008). This guideline covers preventing and treating surgical site infections in adults, young people and children who are having a surgical procedure involving a cut through the skin. It recommends effective methods to use before, during and after surgery to minimise the risk of infection. The guideline is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg74

- Healthcare-associated infections: prevention and control (PH36 – published November 2011). This quality improvement guide aims to reduce the risk of harm from healthcare-associated infections for patients, staff and visitors; and to reduce the costs associated with preventable infection. The guideline is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph36

- Sore throat (acute): antimicrobial prescribing (NG84 – published January 2018) sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for acute sore throat with a view to limiting antibiotic use and reducing antimicrobial resistance. It covers the treatment of a sore throat (including pharyngitis and tonsillitis) but it does not cover care post tonsillectomy. The guideline is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng84