Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) reduce waiting times for a Parkinson’s diagnosis and (b) increase the number of Parkinson’s specialists in (i) Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency and (ii) the North East.

In February 2022 the National Health Service published a delivery plan setting out a clear vision for how the NHS will recover and reduce waiting times for elective services, including prioritising diagnosis and treatment. To support this recovery, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available to systems in 2021/22 to help drive up and protect elective activity.

The Government has commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term plan for the NHS workforce for the next 15 years. The plan, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity, is due to be published shortly.

Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has recently appointed an additional Neurology Specialist Nurse into its Parkinson’s Team.