Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many geriatricians with specialist training in Parkinson's there are.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the Department does not hold data specifically on the number of Parkinson’s specialist staff in England, we do hold data on the number of doctors working in the wider specialities of neurology and geriatric medicine. As of August 2025, there were 2,010 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology and 6,284 in geriatric medicine in National Health Service trusts and other organisations in England. This includes 1,025 FTE consultant neurologists and 1,687 FTE consultant geriatricians.
These figures are based on NHS Digital’s workforce data and reflect staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations in England. They do not include doctors working in private practice or outside NHS organisations.
The Department does not hold specific data on the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses currently working in the NHS in England. These roles are commissioned and managed locally by NHS trusts and integrated care boards as part of neurology and movement disorder services.
NHS England has published a service specification for specialised adult neurology services, which includes Parkinson’s disease as part of its scope. This specification sets out requirements for multidisciplinary care, including access to Parkinson’s disease nurse specialists, consultant neurologists, and allied health professionals.
NHS England is also implementing initiatives such as the Neurology Transformation Programme and the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, which aim to improve access to specialist care, reduce variation, and develop integrated models of service delivery for conditions including Parkinson’s disease. These programmes align with the National Institute for Care Excellence guidance on Parkinson’s disease, reference code NG71, which recommends that people with Parkinson’s have regular access to specialist staff with expertise in the condition.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many neurologists with special training in Parkinson's are there.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the Department does not hold data specifically on the number of Parkinson’s specialist staff in England, we do hold data on the number of doctors working in the wider specialities of neurology and geriatric medicine. As of August 2025, there were 2,010 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology and 6,284 in geriatric medicine in National Health Service trusts and other organisations in England. This includes 1,025 FTE consultant neurologists and 1,687 FTE consultant geriatricians.
These figures are based on NHS Digital’s workforce data and reflect staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations in England. They do not include doctors working in private practice or outside NHS organisations.
The Department does not hold specific data on the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses currently working in the NHS in England. These roles are commissioned and managed locally by NHS trusts and integrated care boards as part of neurology and movement disorder services.
NHS England has published a service specification for specialised adult neurology services, which includes Parkinson’s disease as part of its scope. This specification sets out requirements for multidisciplinary care, including access to Parkinson’s disease nurse specialists, consultant neurologists, and allied health professionals.
NHS England is also implementing initiatives such as the Neurology Transformation Programme and the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, which aim to improve access to specialist care, reduce variation, and develop integrated models of service delivery for conditions including Parkinson’s disease. These programmes align with the National Institute for Care Excellence guidance on Parkinson’s disease, reference code NG71, which recommends that people with Parkinson’s have regular access to specialist staff with expertise in the condition.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many specialist nurses in Parkinson's there are.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the Department does not hold data specifically on the number of Parkinson’s specialist staff in England, we do hold data on the number of doctors working in the wider specialities of neurology and geriatric medicine. As of August 2025, there were 2,010 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology and 6,284 in geriatric medicine in National Health Service trusts and other organisations in England. This includes 1,025 FTE consultant neurologists and 1,687 FTE consultant geriatricians.
These figures are based on NHS Digital’s workforce data and reflect staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations in England. They do not include doctors working in private practice or outside NHS organisations.
The Department does not hold specific data on the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses currently working in the NHS in England. These roles are commissioned and managed locally by NHS trusts and integrated care boards as part of neurology and movement disorder services.
NHS England has published a service specification for specialised adult neurology services, which includes Parkinson’s disease as part of its scope. This specification sets out requirements for multidisciplinary care, including access to Parkinson’s disease nurse specialists, consultant neurologists, and allied health professionals.
NHS England is also implementing initiatives such as the Neurology Transformation Programme and the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, which aim to improve access to specialist care, reduce variation, and develop integrated models of service delivery for conditions including Parkinson’s disease. These programmes align with the National Institute for Care Excellence guidance on Parkinson’s disease, reference code NG71, which recommends that people with Parkinson’s have regular access to specialist staff with expertise in the condition.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 assessment of the adequacy of existing stroke treatments.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service is continuing to improve stroke services, but we recognise there is more to do.
The National Stroke Service Model and the National service model for an integrated community stroke service set out an evidence-based pathway for joined-up stroke care throughout the patient journey.
The NHS is committed to delivering thrombolysis to twice as many patients through the Thrombolysis in Acute Stroke Care (TASC) initiative. The TASC initiative unites stroke teams to use quality improvement methods to reduce delays and deliver faster, safer, more patient-centred care.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England is currently in negotiation with Servier regarding the price of Vorasidenib.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This topic has not yet been referred to NHS England for a commercial negotiation by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). This is because the NICE appraisal process has not yet concluded and the preferred assumptions of the independent NICE committee on the comparative benefits and health and care related costs of vorasidenib following consultation have not yet been confirmed.
NHS England has signalled a willingness to engage in discussions with Servier pending further information following the second NICE appraisal committee meeting scheduled for 20 November, which will help to determine what, if any, approach to commercial arrangements, or managed access arrangements may be appropriate for this topic.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 assessment of the potential merits of creating a national strategy for palliative and end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.
We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.
We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. I am pleased to confirm the continuation of circa £26 million, adjusted for inflation, for the next three financial years, 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive, to be distributed again via ICBs. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure equitable regional access to services for people with postural tachycardia syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Services for people with postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs have a statutory responsibility to provide a health service for the local population, subject to local prioritisation and funding, which includes access to specialist medical services for people with PoTS as appropriate.
Providing a PoTS specialist service is a fundamental part of ICBs’ statutory functions to plan and deliver health services for their local populations, to improve service quality and reduce health inequalities. In commissioning specialist PoTS services, we expect ICBs to use their local knowledge and commissioning authority to consult with patient groups, work collaboratively with clinicians, and design care pathways that ensure patients receive coordinated evidence-based care.
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out a transformative vision for the National Health Service that will support efforts to reduce regional inequalities in access to services for people with PoTS. The shifts outlined in the plan will free up hospital-based consultants’ time by shifting care from hospitals to communities, utilising digital technology to reduce administrative burdens, and promoting preventative measures to reduce the severity of conditions that lead to hospital admissions. This includes expanding community-based services, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, developing integrated neighbourhood health teams, and investing in digital tools and data. These shifts will help streamline referrals and reduce waiting times, enabling earlier diagnosis and more consistent management of PoTS across the country.
We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and times down. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, by March 2029. This, in addition to the reforms outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan, will help to accelerate accurate diagnoses and reduce patient delays.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle the misdiagnosis of Postural Tachycardia Syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Services for people with postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs have a statutory responsibility to provide a health service for the local population, subject to local prioritisation and funding, which includes access to specialist medical services for people with PoTS as appropriate.
Providing a PoTS specialist service is a fundamental part of ICBs’ statutory functions to plan and deliver health services for their local populations, to improve service quality and reduce health inequalities. In commissioning specialist PoTS services, we expect ICBs to use their local knowledge and commissioning authority to consult with patient groups, work collaboratively with clinicians, and design care pathways that ensure patients receive coordinated evidence-based care.
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out a transformative vision for the National Health Service that will support efforts to reduce regional inequalities in access to services for people with PoTS. The shifts outlined in the plan will free up hospital-based consultants’ time by shifting care from hospitals to communities, utilising digital technology to reduce administrative burdens, and promoting preventative measures to reduce the severity of conditions that lead to hospital admissions. This includes expanding community-based services, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, developing integrated neighbourhood health teams, and investing in digital tools and data. These shifts will help streamline referrals and reduce waiting times, enabling earlier diagnosis and more consistent management of PoTS across the country.
We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and times down. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, by March 2029. This, in addition to the reforms outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan, will help to accelerate accurate diagnoses and reduce patient delays.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the portfolio of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women's Health and Mental Health includes (a) the mental health of (i) children and (ii) young people and (b) early intervention services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women's Health and Mental Health (Baroness Merron) has Ministerial responsibility for children and young people’s mental health and early intervention services.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take through the modern service framework for cardiovascular disease to help (a) reduce disability caused by stroke and (b) improve the lives of stroke survivors living with (i) poor health and (ii) a disability post-stroke.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To accelerate the Government’s ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease modern service framework (CVD MSF) in 2026. The CVD MSF will consider approaches to reducing poor health and disability caused by heart disease and stroke.
The Department and NHS England are working together to deliver the CVD MSF and are engaging widely throughout its development to ensure that we prioritise ambitious, evidence-led and clinically informed approaches to prevention, treatment, and care. At the heart of this is engagement with people and communities, so that the modern service framework is shaped by and meets their needs. We will say more on these plans in due course.