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 improve treatment for people with Crohn's disease.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance ‘Crohn’s Disease Management in Adults, Children and Young People’, updated in 2016, sets out best practice in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of patients with the condition.

Management options include drug therapy, dietary and lifestyle advice and, in severe or chronic active disease, surgery. The aim when treating Crohn’s disease is either to heal the inflammation and so reduce symptoms during a flare‑up ('inducing remission') or to prevent flare‑ups happening in the future ('maintaining remission'). Drug treatments can include steroids, immunosuppressants and biological medicines. For patients requiring complex surgery, NHS England specialised colorectal services nationally to support equity of access to high quality treatment for patients with Crohn’s disease.

Since 2006, the Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) audit programme has supported work to improving the care of people with IBD. Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis are collectively known as IBD. Evidence of improvements in care during the time of the programme included the effective demonstration that biological therapies for the treatment of IBD are safe and effective drugs as well as wider improvement to support that patients received.

The IBD audit programme was commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, on behalf on NHS England, as part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme. The programme ended in March 2017 and its quality improvement initiatives have been transferred to the United Kingdom IBD Registry as the future vehicle for IBD audit and quality improvement.