Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NHS England is taking to standardise the collection of data on cholesterol.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) provides information and data for commissioners, analysts and clinicians in health and social care and is responsible for matters relating to standardisation of the collection of cholesterol data.

The HSCIC administers the Health Survey for England which is an annual survey of the general population. Since 2008, it has included measurements of total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The data is publically available from the UK Data Service.

Additionally, cholesterol testing in primary care for people diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes is included in the Quality Outcomes Framework. This information from this is published every year by the HSCIC.