Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support patients with rare diseases.

The 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework set out four priorities for improving the lives of people living with rare diseases: helping patients receive a faster final diagnosis; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatments and drugs. Each United Kingdom nation has committed to publishing an action plan by the end of 2022, outlining how the Framework will be implemented. England’s Rare Diseases Action Plan was published on 28 February 2022. The Plan was developed with partners across the health system and the rare disease community, setting out 16 actions for the four priorities. A second annual Action Plan will be published in 2023 to report on progress and proposing updated and new actions.