Parkinson’s Awareness Month

Ashley Dalton Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) for raising this important issue, and I congratulate him on leading the first substantive debate on Parkinson’s in the House. I also thank all Back Benchers for their insightful contributions, which raised various issues. Although the hon. Member for Meriden and Solihull East (Saqib Bhatti), my hon. Friends the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson), for Stirling and Strathallan (Chris Kane), for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean), for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) and for Bathgate and Linlithgow (Kirsteen Sullivan) and the Members for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) and for Strangford (Jim Shannon) all raised various issues, it is fair to say that everybody who has spoken today, including those who made contributions from the Opposition Front Benches, have raised the importance of the voluntary and community sector and shared some powerful and important stories from their constituents.

April was Parkinson’s Awareness Month and I pay tribute to the fantastic charities that make it a success: Parkinson’s UK, Cure Parkinson’s and The Brain Charity, to name but a few. In particular, I was moved to see how many people had contributed to the “Knit it Blue” campaign, sending in more than 500 beautiful knitted tulips. I also pay tribute to the Movers and Shakers, whose podcast is doing a fantastic job of raising awareness and advocating for better care and treatment for those living with Parkinson’s.

Awareness campaigns really deliver results. We just need to look at the “Get It On Time” campaign, which has led to more than 100 NHS organisations pledging to improve the delivery of time-critical medication—raised a number of times in this debate—and is backed by resources and training materials commissioned by NHS England. We also now have the Parky charter, which is galvanising public and professional awareness of the needs of the Parkinson’s community to ensure timely diagnosis, comprehensive care and dignity for all people with Parkinson’s.

We recognise the challenges of living with Parkinson’s and hear the calls from the Parkinson’s community for more research, shorter waiting times for neurology appointments and more Parkinson’s nurses and multi- disciplinary teams to deliver Parkinson’s care. The Parkinson’s UK website has given a voice to many patients living across the country, and I want to echo the comments made by Andrew in the west midlands that our Parkinson’s nurses are

“worth their weight in gold.”

Neurology is particularly challenging, and we need more neurologists and specialist nurses. There are initiatives nationally that support service improvement and better care for Parkinson’s patients. NHS England’s Getting it Right First Time neurology programme supports improvements to Parkinson’s care by promoting data-driven approaches, sharing best practices and fair access to services. It focuses on improving patient experiences, shining a spotlight on disparities in care and calling for well-integrated processes, such as people getting their meds on time.

The NHS constitution handbook sets out that patients should start consultant-led treatment within 18 weeks from referral. NHSE published a new elective reform plan in January, setting out the steps towards meeting this target by the end of this Parliament, and we achieved our pledge to deliver an additional 2 million elective appointments between July and November 2024, compared with the same period in 2023, seven months ahead of schedule. That is a first step to delivering our commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.

The Department for Work and Pensions offers personal independence payments to individuals with health conditions or disabilities. However, there is currently no automatic entitlement to PIP in relation to any specific health condition except in cases of people nearing end of life. The Government recently brought forward a Green Paper on the health and disability benefits system and the support we offer entitled “Pathways to Work”. In that, we consider how to improve the system for those with very severe health conditions and disabilities, which includes exploring ways to reduce the need for some people with severe health conditions to undergo a full PIP functional assessment. I am due to meet the DWP Minister next week. I will raise the issues that have been raised today with her, particularly by my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar, the hon. Member for Strangford and others.

The primary focus of the Department for Transport’s blue badge scheme is to help those with the greatest mobility needs and it is not condition-specific. The blue badge eligibility criteria in England were extended in 2019 to include more people with non-visible disabilities, in order to ensure that people with the greatest needs, whatever their disability or condition, have access to a badge. There are several automatic qualifying criteria for a blue badge, such as being in receipt of certain benefits. People who do not automatically qualify due to receiving certain benefits may still be eligible, and local authorities will assess applications based on the information provided.

There are currently no plans to add to the list of conditions that give entitlement for free prescriptions. However, approximately 89% of prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge, and a wide range of exemptions are already in place. People with Parkinson’s who are over 60 years old are entitled to free prescriptions, and for those who do need to pay, the cost can be capped by purchasing a prepayment certificate. In addition, the NHS low-income scheme can provide help with health costs on an income-related basis.

My hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar asked me to meet several stakeholder organisations, and I am more than happy to meet them to discuss the Parky charter. I understand that Parkinson’s Connect is being piloted with six healthcare teams in England and Scotland, with more planned in 2025. I would be pleased to discuss how the pilots are providing comprehensive support to people with Parkinson’s on how they are progressing and on next steps.

NHS England’s neuroscience transformation programme improves Parkinson’s care by focusing on faster diagnosis, better co-ordinated care and improved access to specialist services. For example, it contributes to shifting our NHS from hospital to community and from analogue to digital through the home-based care pathway. That focuses on providing comprehensive support and care for individuals in their own homes, integrating remote monitoring through wrist-worn sensors, and providing symptom management advice and access to healthcare professionals. Empowering patients to manage their condition at home means we can improve their quality of life and, crucially, maintain their dignity and independence.

Last November, we established the Neuro Forum—a UK-wide, Government-led forum focusing on services and support for people affected by neurological conditions. It is the first of its kind and brings together the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, devolved Governments and health services, and neurological alliances across the UK to address gaps in treatment and care and to drive improvements in neurological health across the four nations. The forum will focus on practical things, such as a better understanding of neurological workforce challenges and help to address them; teaching other staff to provide better care for people living with one or more of over 600 neurological conditions including Parkinson’s; sharing innovative solutions, such as new therapies; and, crucially, ensuring that patients’ voices are heard.

Research has been touched on by many speakers. It advances our understanding of Parkinson’s as we develop new treatments, technologies and management strategies. Today these things help people to live well with Parkinson’s; tomorrow they could deliver a cure. The Government are strongly committed to supporting research into Parkinson’s disease. We continue to encourage research through targeted funding, infrastructure support, policy initiatives, and collaboration and partnerships. For example, the UK Dementia Research Institute, which is primarily funded by Government, is partnering with Parkinson’s UK to establish a new £10 million research centre dedicated to better understanding the causes of Parkinson’s and finding new treatments. The centre, supported by five of the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s biomedical research centres, has discovered that eye scans can detect Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before symptoms appear, enabling people to receive treatment and make any appropriate lifestyle changes earlier. I reassure the House that changes to the structure of NHS England and the Department will seek to eliminate duplication and improve efficiencies to ensure that work on Parkinson’s continues to develop.

Research is, of course, crucial for discovering new drugs and underpins the entire drug discovery and development process. Produodopa is a groundbreaking new treatment for Parkinson’s disease, particularly for patients with advanced disease and severe motor fluctuations. It is revolutionary because it provides a continuous 24-hour infusion of medication via a small pump, providing more consistent symptom control. The NHS rolled it out in February last year. It has been shown to improve motor function and has proved its worth by significantly improving the quality of life of those with advanced Parkinson’s. I briefly remind colleagues that the NHS in England is legally required to make funding available for treatments recommended by technology appraisal guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

We all want to see people with Parkinson’s live as well as possible for as long as possible. That is why it is not good enough that we still see inequalities in access to Parkinson’s services. Neurology services have been facing real challenges, including in the workforce, delays to treatment and care, and a lack of information and support for patients. Through the forthcoming NHS 10-year health plan, we will improve care for people with long-term conditions like Parkinson’s. In response to the hon. Member for Meriden and Solihull East, I can confirm that the plan will drive our ambition towards greater use of technology and data in the NHS.

A core part of the 10-year health plan will be our workforce and how we ensure that we train and provide the staff the NHS needs to make it more accessible, proactive and tailored for patients. The refreshed NHS workforce plan will set out the numbers of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed in five, 10 and 15 years’ time. It will reflect the fact that our NHS is caring for patients with increasingly complex needs.

However, we are already making progress on the workforce to support those with Parkinson’s, including by having over 900 full-time equivalent consultants—over 30 more than in 2023. There are 27 specialised neurology centres across England. As of January, over 7,700 full-time equivalent speech and language therapists are employed in NHS trusts—an increase of over 300 compared to last year. There are over 17,900 full-time equivalent occupational therapists—an increase of over 600. As of January, there are almost 25,300 full-time equivalent physiotherapists—over 900 more than last year.

We have also had a record increase in the carer’s allowance. I do not have an update on the social care talks, but I will ensure that the Minister for Care hears that the matter has been raised in the debate.

I once again extend my thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar for securing the debate and to all Members who have spoken. I look forward to working with them all to ensure that people living with Parkinson’s have the dignity they deserve. I began by talking about Parkinson’s Awareness Month. One thing that struck me from hearing so many people share their stories, and from the stories shared in the debate, was the number who felt uncomfortable sharing their status, sometimes even with their close friends and family. This past month has been about smashing the stigma, and I know that this debate will play its part in that too.