Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what provision is available to help people with multiple sclerosis access the care and support they need.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance Multiple sclerosis: management of multiple sclerosis in primary and secondary care, updated in October 2014, sets out best practice on the diagnosis, treatment, care and support of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The guidance makes a range of recommendations on the drug based treatments for MS, but also highlights the importance of involving professionals who can meet the needs of the patient in the best way, such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists.

NHS England commissions specialised neurological services nationally to meet the needs of patients with complex neurological conditions such as MS. NHS England has published a service specification setting out what providers must have in place to deliver specialised neurological care. This supports equity of access to high quality services for patients wherever they live. Although much of the routine care people with MS receive will be provided by local primary, community and secondary care services via local clinical commissioning groups, elements of their care may be provided by specialists subject to their needs. Specialised neurological care can include access to specialist nurses, orthoptists, dieticians and speech and language therapists, psychologists, continence and pain relief services, services provided jointly with specialists in rehabilitation medicine, spasticity management services and clinics for the assessment for and monitoring of disease modifying therapies.