Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of comparative patient outcomes in England and Scotland relative to their respective NHS provision of gastroparesis services.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) commission all services for patients with gastroparesis, with the exception of gastro-electrical stimulation (GES), which falls with the remit of nationally commissioned services. As these services are ICB commissioned, engagement is therefore determined at the local level.

The Government remains committed to improving outcomes for people living with rare diseases, including gastroparesis, through the UK Rare Diseases Framework and England Rare Diseases Action Plans to deliver a health and care system that works for all. In the 2026 action plan, we introduced a new and important action to address health inequalities for rare diseases through the Core20PLUS5 Framework. In addition, NHS England has published a Health Inequalities Toolkit for Highly Specialised Services.

NHS England’s Clinical Panel considered evidence submitted to review the existing commissioning policy on GES for gastroparesis. NHS England concluded that the additional evidence was limited and did not constitute a sufficiently robust clinical evidence base to support any revision to the current policy position, under which the procedure is not routinely commissioned. Clinicians may trigger a review of NHS England’s commissioning policies if new evidence is published.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of regional disparities in gastroparesis treatment on (1) patient outcomes, (2) the financial costs and benefits of gastroparesis treatment as compared to the costs to the NHS of frequent hospital admissions, and (3) the wider costs to the economy of absence from work due to medical complications related to the non-provision of gastroparesis treatment.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) commission all services for patients with gastroparesis, with the exception of gastro-electrical stimulation (GES), which falls with the remit of nationally commissioned services. As these services are ICB commissioned, engagement is therefore determined at the local level.

The Government remains committed to improving outcomes for people living with rare diseases, including gastroparesis, through the UK Rare Diseases Framework and England Rare Diseases Action Plans to deliver a health and care system that works for all. In the 2026 action plan, we introduced a new and important action to address health inequalities for rare diseases through the Core20PLUS5 Framework. In addition, NHS England has published a Health Inequalities Toolkit for Highly Specialised Services.

NHS England’s Clinical Panel considered evidence submitted to review the existing commissioning policy on GES for gastroparesis. NHS England concluded that the additional evidence was limited and did not constitute a sufficiently robust clinical evidence base to support any revision to the current policy position, under which the procedure is not routinely commissioned. Clinicians may trigger a review of NHS England’s commissioning policies if new evidence is published.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what engagement they have had with patient groups about improving gastroparesis services.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) commission all services for patients with gastroparesis, with the exception of gastro-electrical stimulation (GES), which falls with the remit of nationally commissioned services. As these services are ICB commissioned, engagement is therefore determined at the local level.

The Government remains committed to improving outcomes for people living with rare diseases, including gastroparesis, through the UK Rare Diseases Framework and England Rare Diseases Action Plans to deliver a health and care system that works for all. In the 2026 action plan, we introduced a new and important action to address health inequalities for rare diseases through the Core20PLUS5 Framework. In addition, NHS England has published a Health Inequalities Toolkit for Highly Specialised Services.

NHS England’s Clinical Panel considered evidence submitted to review the existing commissioning policy on GES for gastroparesis. NHS England concluded that the additional evidence was limited and did not constitute a sufficiently robust clinical evidence base to support any revision to the current policy position, under which the procedure is not routinely commissioned. Clinicians may trigger a review of NHS England’s commissioning policies if new evidence is published.