Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase access to treatment for people with chronic migraine disease.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline, Headaches: Diagnosis and management of headaches in young people and adults, updated in December 2021, sets out best practice for healthcare professionals in the care, treatment, and support of people who suffer from headaches, including migraine. It aims to improve the recognition and management of headaches and migraine.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with migraine, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit, and the Neurology Transformation Programme. The GIRFT Programme published a National Speciality Report, which makes several recommendations in relation to improving the recognition and diagnosis of migraine by general practitioners. Additionally, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit sets out key priorities for improving care for patients with migraine, which includes correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders.

The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed two e-learning modules about migraine and cluster headaches, which aim to raise awareness amongst primary care clinicians about the different types of migraine and their associated symptoms, and how to differentiate between them.

Over the last four years, a new class of drugs, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors, has been made available on the National Health Service for the prevention and treatment of episodic and chronic migraines. On 15 May 2024, Atogepant became the latest CGRP inhibitor for which the NICE has published guidance. The NICE recommended Atogepant for use as a preventive medication for the treatment of migraine on the NHS in England.