Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made in the levels of of regional variations in waiting times for specialist migraine treatment.

Whilst no specific assessment has been made, as of January 2025 there were almost 233,000 pathways waiting for a neurology appointment and 53.8% of neurology pathways were waiting within 18 weeks.

The Government is committed to tackling National Health Service waiting lists for patients and reducing variation across all regions, including patients awaiting specialist migraine treatment. We will ensure 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. As a first step, we delivered an additional two million appointments between July and November 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, seven months ahead of schedule. This includes operations, consultations, diagnostic tests and treatments, including for neurology patients.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, commits to reforming elective care equitably and inclusively for all adults, children and young people to improve patient experience and waiting list performance and reduce regional variation, so that patients receive high quality care wherever they live.