Essential Tremor: Ultrasonics
(asked on 2nd December 2024) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's commissioning guidance entitled Transcranial magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy for treatment of medication-refractory essential tremor, updated 5 October 2021, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of this guidance on trends in the number of patients accessing this treatment.
The Department has made no assessment of the potential impact of NHS England’s guidance on trends in the number of patients accessing transcranial magnetic resonance. Transcranial magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy is recommended for the treatment of refractory essential tremor in patients who are not eligible for deep brain stimulation, within the criteria set put in NHS England’s commissioning policy, which is available at the following link:
Epidemiology and needs assessment data set out in the commissioning policy estimates that there will be up to 150 patients that meet the inclusion criteria for this therapy per year in England. NHS England will review the policy should any new evidence become available.