Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NICE's May 2018 draft guidance, Abdominal aortic aneurysm: diagnosis and management, whether he plans to make an assessment of the effectiveness of the referral to treatment process for patients in receipt of screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm; and if he will make a statement.

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NICE has not yet published its final guideline on abdominal aortic aneurysm and has recently consulted publicly on its draft guidance.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