Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Tuesday 5th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

Of course, conversations continue between Ministers across Government in terms of helping not just with health inequalities but with inequality of opportunity. That is why I very much hope that the hon. Lady and her colleagues will welcome the thoughtful focus that both the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions have put into the back to work plan. We know that getting people into work can have enormous benefits, not just financially but, importantly, for their wellbeing. The idea behind the back to work plan is that we do it by working with people to draw out their full potential and help them to lead healthy lives.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

8. If she will review the provision of health services for people living with (a) Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and (b) hypermobility spectrum disorder.

[The Minister for Health and Secondary Care (Andrew Stephenson)]

We recognise that body-wide symptoms associated with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder can be disabling and can affect all aspects of life. General rheumatology services, which support people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder, are locally commissioned by integrated care boards, which are best placed to make decisions according to local need. The major conditions strategy will focus on six groups of conditions, including musculoskeletal disorders such as these syndromes and disorders.

[Mr Sheerman]

That is all very well, but I do not think that will convince my constituents or the one in 500 people who suffer from that awful disease. This wonderful talented group of people on the Treasury Bench obviously inhabit an alternate universe. My GP said that these days there is no training or research, and that we do not have the capacity to look into these things. People with EDS have to be assessed by uptrained GPs, but they are not there. Our GP and medical services are on their knees. When will the Minister wake up to that fact?