Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance NICE has issued on whether it is clinically appropriate to delay surgery for (a) obese patients for 12 months and (b) smokers for 6 months.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has advised that it has not made any specific recommendations on delaying surgery for obese patients or patients who smoke, and that its guidelines tend to focus on the diagnosis, care and management of health conditions, rather than protocols for the delivery of services.