S6W-20712

Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider updating SIGN guidelines to include recognition of chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs), in light of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines now recognising this as a condition that impacts a significant number of people.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) is part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) who operate independently of the Scottish Government, Health Boards and Integration Authorities with responsibility for updating SIGN guidelines.

Guidelines on management of suspected UTIs were developed by (SIGN) in September 2020 and the Scottish Government expects all NHS healthcare workers in Scotland to follow best practice when providing care for people with UTIs.

These support clinicians to provide advice to patients and carers on appropriate treatment, risks and lifestyle and behaviour issues which can support management and prevention of UTIs. The guideline also includes the diagnosis and management of recurrent UTIs in these groups.

SIGN guidance is bespoke to Scotland. In NHSScotland, where there is no SIGN guideline on a particular topic, healthcare professionals would be expected to look for another high quality, evidence-based guideline e.g from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

S6W-20710

Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update NHS Inform to include dedicated information on chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs), including information on diagnosis and treatments, in light of NHS England currently providing such information online.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

The Scottish Government do not currently have plans to add a section on chronic UTIs to NHS inform at this time. The NHS 24 Clinical Change Governance Group (CCGG) routinely assess new and updated clinical guidelines to ensure the clinical content on NHS inform is underpinned as far as possible with current clinical evidence. The group will continue to consider what improvements are required regarding information on UTIs based on any new evidence or changes to clinical guidelines or pathways that arise.

NHS inform does advise that if acute symptoms do not improve, get worse, or come back after initial treatment, the patient should return to their GP for further advice. Thereafter the GP should follow relevant clinical guidelines that outline how to treat and manage chronic UTIs for individual patients.