Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 Febraury 2015 to Question 223094, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings by the Pernicious Anaemia Society members' survey, published in the British Journal of Nursing in April 2014, that over 60 per cent of people with pernicious anaemia are unhappy with their treatment and that many such people self-medicate to reduce their pain; and if he will consider the potential merits of revising the relevant guidelines to recommend more regular treatment.

The treatment of pernicious anaemia, the result of a vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency, is well established and reported in the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH) document, Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Cobalamin and Folate disorders, which was updated in May 2014. The BCSH operates independently of the Department and NHS England.

Current clinical practice within the United Kingdom is to treat pernicious anaemia with Vitamin B12 intramuscular injections. The BCSH produces evidence based guidelines for both clinical and laboratory haematologists on the diagnosis and treatment of haematological disease, drawing on the advice of expert consultants and clinical scientists practicing in the United Kingdom. The guidelines can be found via the BCSH website at the following link:

www.bcshguidelines.com

Any patient with pernicious anaemia who has concerns about their treatment should discuss this matter with their general practitioner.