Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the decision to restrict medical massage practitioners in areas of Tier four covid restrictions on the (a) physical and (b) mental health of people with chronic pain.

Access to defined healthcare is not restricted either under the previous Tier 4 arrangements or the current national lockdown. Where services are commissioned by the National Health Service, any decisions on changes to provision is a matter for the local NHS. Where health services are privately provided, such decisions are a matter for the individual practitioner or the organisation they are employed by.

The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council has set out advice for its members on the circumstances in which it understands massage therapy would meet the definition of healthcare set out in the legislation. It is however for individual practitioners and their employers to ensure that practice is within the current legislation.