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 speed up diagnosis times for patients with topical steroid withdrawal.

General practitioners are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge, including of topical steroid withdrawal, remains up-to-date, and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients. All United Kingdom registered doctors are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s (GMC) Good Medical Practice.

In 2012 the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice, gives patients confidence doctors are up to date with their practice, and promotes improved quality of care by driving improvements in clinical governance. The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners and must meet the standards set by the GMC.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has reviewed topical steroid withdrawal reactions, and first communicated about these reactions in September 2021 in its Drug Safety Update. It produced a further review this year. The British Association of Dermatologists has formed a Topical Steroid Withdrawal Working Party Group, which aims to produce an expert consensus and guidance on supporting people with concerns about topical steroid withdrawal.