Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the guidance issued by NICE on Spondyloarthritis QS170, in June 2018 is implemented effectively throughout the UK; and if he will make a statement.

On 28 June 2018, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a new Quality Standard (QS) on spondyloarthritis. QSs are important in setting out to patients, the public, commissioners and providers what a high-quality service should look like in a particular area of care. Whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to NICE QSs in planning and delivering services, they do not provide a comprehensive service specification and implementation of QSs is not mandatory.

The way NICE was established in legislation means that its guidance is officially for England only. However, NICE has agreements to provide certain NICE products and services to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Decisions on how NICE guidance is applied in these countries are made by the devolved administrations.