Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to bring forward the NICE guidelines for mesh in stress-related urinary incontinence from 2019 to 2018.

The update of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guidance on the management of urinary incontinence to also include pelvic organ prolapse is already underway, with draft guidance for consultation expected in late 2018 and final guidance due in early 2019.

As this guideline update is already in progress, there is little scope for it to be brought forward any sooner. It is also important to recognise the necessary rigour and transparency with which NICE develops clinical guidelines, which means development takes several months.