Written question asked by Graham Allen (Labour) on Friday, 9 October 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 13 October 2009. It was answered by Mike O'Brien (Labour) on Monday, 19 October 2009 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Arthritis

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of regional variations in the availability of treatments for rheumatoid arthritis approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence;

Answer: The Department has not made any specific assessment of regional variations in the availability of treatments for rheumatoid arthritis approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) or on the implementation of clinical guideline 79 issued by NICE for rheumatoid arthritis in each strategic health authority and primary care trust. It is the responsibility of national health service bodies to implement NICE guidance and NICE publishes a number of implementation tools alongside its guidance to help facilitate this.

Secondary information