Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when does she expect the photobiomodulation process for treatment of those with severe eye problems to be made available via the NHS.

Clinicians utilise the best available evidence, including guidance from The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), to determine appropriate treatments to be made available to patients via the National Health Service.

The NICE runs an interventional procedures programme to assess the efficacy and safety of interventional procedures used for treatment or diagnosis, to determine whether they work well enough and are safe enough for use in the NHS. The programme can assess procedures that involve incision, puncture, and entry into a body cavity, or that use ionising, electromagnetic, or acoustic energy.

The NICE’s interventional procedures programme is not currently looking at this procedure in relation to the treatment of eye problems, and there has been no notification to the NICE for consideration of photobiomodulation for treatment of those with severe eye problems.

The Department is committed to partnering with industry, patients, and the wider health and social care system to ensure effective and innovative medical technologies that support the continued delivery of high-quality care and outstanding patient safety, are available to patients. Innovators can sign up to the NHS Innovation Service for guidance on the key steps to introduce their idea or product to the NHS.