Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all relevant medical health professionals are aware of the different manifestations of Parkinson’s disease in (a) women and (b) men.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on Parkinson’s disease in adults does not make any reference to differences in Parkinson’s symptoms between women and men.
We do know that the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease is higher in men than in women, as prevalence rates for men aged between 50 and 89 years old are more than 1.5 times higher than rates for women in the same age group. This equates to 22 in every 10,000 women and 32 in every 10,000 men diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
NHS England is updating the Neurosciences specialised neurology (adults) service specification, which includes Parkinson’s. The revised service specification also includes an annex which articulates minimum service requirements for both specialised and non-specialised neurology services, including movement disorder services. We are expecting the revised specification and standards to be published later in 2025.
NHS England will publish an Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment alongside the specification. This will summarise the different incidence and impacts of neurological disease on protected characteristic groups, drawing on published evidence as appropriate.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households receive multiple PIP awards.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9% of households claimed Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in 2023-2024, with 10% of these households claiming multiple awards.
Notes:
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of her Department’s estimate that the lost output due to working age carers caring for working age sick is £37 billion.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by carers every day in providing significant care and continuity of support to sick and disabled family and friends. Without the support they provide there would be more pressure on formal social care services, whether provided by local authorities or through other routes.
The Casey Commission, announced recently by this government, will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families should expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers. Furthermore, the Government’s plans to reform and modernise the NHS will see reduced waiting times and improved care, helping people to remain in work and economically active. And the Government is reviewing the implementation of the Carer’s Leave Act, which gave employed carers a right to time off work for the first time. We will also explore the benefits of paid leave, while being mindful of the impact of any changes on small employers. Through the Employment Rights Bill, we will make sure that flexible working – which can play such an important role in helping carers balance their work and caring responsibilities - is available to all workers except where it is genuinely not feasible.
With respect to support from DWP, unpaid carers on low incomes can receive support through Universal Credit. This can respond flexibly to variations in earnings and caring responsibilities and includes a carer element worth £2,400 a year for those providing unpaid care of 35 hours a week or more. Full-time carers are also exempt from requirements to seek or prepare for paid work, although they can request employment support if they wish to do so. For those providing unpaid care of less than 35 hours a week, Universal Credit seeks to balance paid work and unpaid care by tailoring the number of hours people are expected to work or search for work to take account of their caring responsibilities. Part-time unpaid carers receive personalised employment support through their Jobcentre Plus work coach. This can include access to skills provision, referral to an employment support programme such as Restart, careers advice, job search support, volunteering opportunities, and access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry.
For those in England and Wales who are providing care of 35 hours or more a week to a disabled or elderly person with care needs, Carer’s Allowance is available. This is subject to a weekly earnings limit, which since 7 April 2025 has been linked to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels. This government has increased the threshold by the biggest amount ever, meaning it is currently £196 a week of net earnings (after allowable costs, including costs related to care), compared to £151 in 2024/25. The increase means that over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive Carer’s Allowance between 2025/26 and 2029/30. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976 and is the highest percentage increase since 2001.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposals outlined in the (a) Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work and (b) Spring Budget on (i) unpaid carers and (ii) people with caring responsibilities whose disability benefit entitlements may have changed.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the average time taken for patients with Parkinson’s disease who are experiencing new symptoms to see a neurologist.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance on Parkinson’s disease in adults sets out the best practice for healthcare professionals in the care, treatment, and support of people with Parkinson’s. It aims to improve the recognition and management of Parkinson’s symptoms. The NICE’s guidance on Parkinson’s disease in adults is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71
NHS RightCare has also produced a Progressive Neurology Conditions Toolkit. The toolkit sets out the key priorities for increasing knowledge of the signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s and makes suggestions regarding new service models which can be implemented in primary care to speed up referrals to specialists and ensure a timely diagnosis. Additionally, the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology has published a National Speciality Report, which makes several recommendations in relation to reducing waiting for neurology services. NHS England has also established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme which has developed a new model of integrated care for neurology services, to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with Parkinson’s.
Data on how regularly an average patient with Parkinson’s disease sees a neurologist is not held centrally. NICE guidance recommends that people with Parkinson's should be seen at regular intervals of six to 12 months. While NICE guidance is not mandatory, the Government expects the healthcare system and commissioners to take the guidelines fully into account when designing services for their local population, and to work towards their implementation over time.
Data on the average time taken for patients with Parkinson’s disease to see a neurologist is not held centrally. The latest data for referral to treatment waiting times in England, from February 2025, shows there were under 230,000 pathways waiting for a neurology appointment, 53.7% of which were waiting within 18 weeks.
The NHS Constitution sets out that patients should start consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral for non-urgent conditions. On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, which sets out a whole system approach to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament. We have achieved our pledge to deliver two million extra elective appointments. These additional appointments have taken place across a number of specialities, including neurology. We have made the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the how regularly an average patient with Parkinson’s disease saw a neurologist in the latest period for which data was available.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance on Parkinson’s disease in adults sets out the best practice for healthcare professionals in the care, treatment, and support of people with Parkinson’s. It aims to improve the recognition and management of Parkinson’s symptoms. The NICE’s guidance on Parkinson’s disease in adults is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71
NHS RightCare has also produced a Progressive Neurology Conditions Toolkit. The toolkit sets out the key priorities for increasing knowledge of the signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s and makes suggestions regarding new service models which can be implemented in primary care to speed up referrals to specialists and ensure a timely diagnosis. Additionally, the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology has published a National Speciality Report, which makes several recommendations in relation to reducing waiting for neurology services. NHS England has also established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme which has developed a new model of integrated care for neurology services, to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with Parkinson’s.
Data on how regularly an average patient with Parkinson’s disease sees a neurologist is not held centrally. NICE guidance recommends that people with Parkinson's should be seen at regular intervals of six to 12 months. While NICE guidance is not mandatory, the Government expects the healthcare system and commissioners to take the guidelines fully into account when designing services for their local population, and to work towards their implementation over time.
Data on the average time taken for patients with Parkinson’s disease to see a neurologist is not held centrally. The latest data for referral to treatment waiting times in England, from February 2025, shows there were under 230,000 pathways waiting for a neurology appointment, 53.7% of which were waiting within 18 weeks.
The NHS Constitution sets out that patients should start consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral for non-urgent conditions. On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, which sets out a whole system approach to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament. We have achieved our pledge to deliver two million extra elective appointments. These additional appointments have taken place across a number of specialities, including neurology. We have made the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time taken for patients experiencing Parkinson's symptoms to receive a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance on Parkinson’s disease in adults sets out the best practice for healthcare professionals in the care, treatment, and support of people with Parkinson’s. It aims to improve the recognition and management of Parkinson’s symptoms. The NICE’s guidance on Parkinson’s disease in adults is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71
NHS RightCare has also produced a Progressive Neurology Conditions Toolkit. The toolkit sets out the key priorities for increasing knowledge of the signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s and makes suggestions regarding new service models which can be implemented in primary care to speed up referrals to specialists and ensure a timely diagnosis. Additionally, the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology has published a National Speciality Report, which makes several recommendations in relation to reducing waiting for neurology services. NHS England has also established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme which has developed a new model of integrated care for neurology services, to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with Parkinson’s.
Data on how regularly an average patient with Parkinson’s disease sees a neurologist is not held centrally. NICE guidance recommends that people with Parkinson's should be seen at regular intervals of six to 12 months. While NICE guidance is not mandatory, the Government expects the healthcare system and commissioners to take the guidelines fully into account when designing services for their local population, and to work towards their implementation over time.
Data on the average time taken for patients with Parkinson’s disease to see a neurologist is not held centrally. The latest data for referral to treatment waiting times in England, from February 2025, shows there were under 230,000 pathways waiting for a neurology appointment, 53.7% of which were waiting within 18 weeks.
The NHS Constitution sets out that patients should start consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral for non-urgent conditions. On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, which sets out a whole system approach to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament. We have achieved our pledge to deliver two million extra elective appointments. These additional appointments have taken place across a number of specialities, including neurology. We have made the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish an implementation plan alongside the policy paper entitled Reforming elective care for patients, published on 6 January 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently no plans to publish an implementation plan alongside the Elective Reform Plan.
Our Elective Reform Plan sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of this Parliament, and outlines how these will be implemented by National Health Service systems, including a series of milestones for delivery. We have hit our pledge to deliver two million extra elective appointments early, and have now exceeded that pledge by delivering over three million more appointments.
In addition, the Planning Guidance for 2025/26 has since been published and confirmed the interim targets for 2025/26, including a target that 65% of patients wait for 18 weeks or less by March 2026, up from 58.9% in January 2025, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum 5% improvement on current performance over that period.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people who need joint replacement surgery are able to access treatment in all regions.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to putting patients first, including those waiting for joint replacement surgery.
We understand the impact long waits can have on patients’ mental health, and we are committed to ensuring that people can access high quality mental health support when they need it. As part of this, we will recruit 8,500 mental health workers to ease pressure on busy mental health services. Separately, in the Government’s Plan for Change we have committed to return to the 18-week Referral to Treatment standard, which has not been met for almost a decade.
We will ensure that patients are not only seen on time but also have the best possible experience of care. Our Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025, has committed us to working with patients and their carers to co-develop minimum standards for their experience of care.
Dedicated and protected surgical hubs are helping to reduce elective surgery wait times by focusing on high volume low complexity surgeries, such as joint replacement surgery. As of March 2025, there are 114 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England.
The Elective Reform Plan has committed to providing quicker access for patients to common surgical hub procedures by opening 17 new and expanded surgical hubs by June 2025 and ramping up the number of hubs over the next three years, so even more operations can be carried out near where patients live.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to provide mental health support for people waiting for joint replacement surgery.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to putting patients first, including those waiting for joint replacement surgery.
We understand the impact long waits can have on patients’ mental health, and we are committed to ensuring that people can access high quality mental health support when they need it. As part of this, we will recruit 8,500 mental health workers to ease pressure on busy mental health services. Separately, in the Government’s Plan for Change we have committed to return to the 18-week Referral to Treatment standard, which has not been met for almost a decade.
We will ensure that patients are not only seen on time but also have the best possible experience of care. Our Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025, has committed us to working with patients and their carers to co-develop minimum standards for their experience of care.
Dedicated and protected surgical hubs are helping to reduce elective surgery wait times by focusing on high volume low complexity surgeries, such as joint replacement surgery. As of March 2025, there are 114 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England.
The Elective Reform Plan has committed to providing quicker access for patients to common surgical hub procedures by opening 17 new and expanded surgical hubs by June 2025 and ramping up the number of hubs over the next three years, so even more operations can be carried out near where patients live.