Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the degree to which the analysis contained in the NHS England document Items which should not be routinely prescribed in primary care: Guidance for CCGs justifies the advice given that prescribers in primary care should not prescribe liothyronine (T3) for any new patients.

In November 2017 NHS England published commissioning guidance for clinical commissioning groups, entitled Items which should not be routinely prescribed in primary care: A Consultation on guidance for CCGs, following a three month consultation. A joint clinical working group comprised of clinical representatives reviewed the consultation findings and made evidence-based recommendations for consideration by the NHS England Board. Liothyronine attracted a significant number of responses and following detailed review, significant amendments to the original proposals were made before being published in the finalised guidance. NHS England’s recommendations are that National Health Service consultant endocrinologists may still initiate and recommend liothyronine for new patients, following audited individual trial periods of use, as recommended by the British Thyroid Association.