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 adequacy in the number of neuromuscular NHS consultants available to meet the treatment needs of patients with neuromuscular conditions.
Neuromuscular is not a specialty or subspecialty defined by Health Education England for the purpose of specialty training or by NHS Digital for the purpose of monitoring numbers of staff working in the National Health Service.
However, Health Education England expects that more than 150 doctors will complete specialist training in neurology by the end of 2020 and be available to take up posts as consultant neurologists.
The following table shows there has been a 45% increase in the full time equivalent number of consultants working in relevant neurology consultant specialties in the NHS since May 2010:
Consultant specialty | May 2010 | January 2018 | Change | Percentage |
Clinical neurophysiology | 86 | 105 | 18 | 21% |
Diagnostic Neuropathology | 0 | 3 | 3 |
|
Neurology | 523 | 774 | 251 | 48% |
Total | 609 | 882 | 272 | 45% |
Source: NHS Digital, NHS Hospital and Community Health Service workforce statistics.