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 effectiveness of the interventions for patients with complex abdominal aortic aneurysms listed under the term Complex EVAR in NICE's draft guideline, Abdominal aortic aneurysm: diagnosis and management, published in May 2018; and what comparative assessment he has made of the effect on patient outcomes of (a) customised fenestrated endografts and (b) physician-modified endografts for complex abdominal aortic aneurysms.

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NICE has not yet published its final guideline on abdominal aortic aneurysm and has recently consulted publicly on its draft guidance.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.