Health: Multiple Sclerosis

Baroness Gardner of Parkes Excerpts

Monday 30th June 2014 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Gardner of Parkes]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce new treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe) (Con)]

My Lords, it is important that people are able to access the innovative and effective new treatments they need. Many thousands of people in England with multiple sclerosis have benefited from the medicines recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence or covered by the MS risk-sharing scheme.

[Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. People with multiple sclerosis consider that specialist MS nurses are the key health professionals for providing responsive, person-centred, co-ordinated and integrated care. The latest MS Trust report assesses the provision of MS nurses across the UK and considers that there is a shortage of around 200, and that more specialist nurses are required to ensure that everyone has access to a specialist nurse. The new draft NICE guidelines offer only limited support for this specialist role. Given the scarcity of neurologists in the UK, is it not important that this chain of nurses is in place to ensure that emergencies do not develop, which of course costs the National Health Service very much more? Can my noble friend assure me that he will take action to ensure the continuance of MS nurses?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I am pleased to say that the number of specialist nurses for multiple sclerosis in the UK has risen from 80 in 2002 to 245 currently. I hope that my noble friend will agree with our view that local healthcare organisations, given their knowledge of the healthcare needs of their local populations, are the people best placed to determine the workforce needed to deliver safe and effective patient care within the available resources. However, it is of interest that NHS England’s service specification for specialised neurology does specify that nurse specialists should be involved in the care of people with multiple sclerosis.