Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the (a) impact of migraines on levels of economic inactivity and (b) potential impact of reducing migraine diagnosis times on levels of economic inactivity.

To reduce the time taken to diagnose conditions such as migraines, NHS England has published a delivery plan for recovering access to primary care. As part of this plan, the National Health Service will deliver on the commitment of 26,000 more direct patient care staff and 50 million more appointments in general practice by March 2024.

To step up our focus on tackling rising economic inactivity due to long-term sickness, including those living with migraine, the Government announced a further wide-reaching package at the Spring Budget to support disabled people and people with health conditions to work.  Initiatives include a work coach support for disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as introducing a new supported employment programme (Universal Support) which focuses on providing faster access to joined-up work and health support.

The Department does not hold specific information on the impact of migraines on levels of economic activity.