Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on care for patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis patients of service pressures resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.

No specific assessment on the effect of care for patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak has been made.

Early in the pandemic NHS England and NHS Improvement advised that in-person consultations “should only take place when absolutely necessary”. Providers have been rolling out remote consultations using video, telephone, email and text message services as a priority, including for those with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.