Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of conducting a review of the UK National Screening Committee's decision-making process regarding screening for sudden cardiac death.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is an independent scientific advisory committee which advises ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries on all aspects of population and targeted screening, and supports implementation.

Using research evidence, pilot programmes, economic evaluation, expert stakeholders, and consultation, the UK NSC assesses the evidence for national screening programmes against a set of internationally recognised criteria covering the condition, the test, the treatment options, and the effectiveness, ethics, and acceptability of the screening programme.

The committee is open about their procedures and how evidence and expertise has been considered in formulating their recommendations. They engage with a broad range of stakeholders across the United Kingdom to ensure their advice reflects societal perspectives and is balanced. Further information on the UK NSC’s approach to evidence review criteria is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evidence-review-criteria-national-screening-programmes

In addition, further information about the processes and principles used by the UK NSC is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-nsc-processes-and-principles