Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of whether (a) primary care and (b) rheumatology departments provide the most effective diagnoses of (i) hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and (ii) hypermobility spectrum disorders.

General rheumatology services, which support people with a range of conditions, including hEDS and HSD, are locally commissioned by integrated care boards which are best placed to make decisions according to local need.

Rheumatologists have knowledge and familiarity with hypermobility and related conditions. Other clinicians, such as general practitioners and expert physiotherapists, are being empowered to identify and diagnose the condition through the use of validated approved clinical guidelines and toolkits. This should help to reduce delays in diagnosis.