Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provision of psychological support for adults with (a) muscular dystrophy and (b) neuromuscular conditions.

No specific assessment has been made. Guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has been published for a number of neuromuscular disorders, and where appropriate, the guidance makes recommendations about access to psychological and counselling support for patients. In addition, NHS England has also set out that specialised care for patients with neuromuscular disorders, such as muscular dystrophy, should provide access to psychologists and/or counsellors.

NHS England is also working with the Neurological Alliance in support of the new national Neurology Advisory Group, which is considering ways to reduce variation and drive improvement in neurological care. This includes looking at issues such as psychological support, which were recently raised in the report Parity of esteem for people affected by neurological conditions: meeting the emotional, cognitive & mental health needs of neurology patients, published by the Neurological Alliance on 5 July 2017.

Finally, as set out in Implementing the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, published in July 2016, the expansion of psychological therapies services will require building skills and capacity in the workforce. This includes: top-up training in new competencies for long-term conditions (relevant to people with neuromuscular disorders and other long term health problems) and medically unexplained symptoms for current staff; targeted training in working with older people; and training new staff to increase overall capacity – such as the 3,000 additional mental health therapists located in primary care.