Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people in Yeovil constituency with restless leg syndrome.

We are committed to supporting people with restless leg syndrome and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate.

Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy and care plan in place, the majority of people with restless leg syndrome can be cared for through routine access to primary, secondary, and community care services. Integrated care boards (ICBs), including the Somerset ICB which covers the Yeovil constituency, are responsible for commissioning most services for people with restless leg syndrome. ICBs are best placed to plan the provision of services to meet the needs of their local population.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a clinical knowledge summary (CKS) on restless leg syndrome, which is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/

CKS’ are designed to collate and summarise all the guidance and evidence on specific topics and they are a source of supporting information mainly for National Health Service staff working in primary care. The CKS for restless leg syndrome recognises that iron deficiency and dysfunction of iron metabolism are likely causes of restless leg syndrome, and states that a full iron assessment, including ferritin, total iron-binding capacity, and percentage transferrin saturation, should be requested for patients with restless leg syndrome. If iron deficiency anaemia is found, or serum ferritin levels are less than 50 to 75 micrograms per litre, clinicians should investigate to identify a cause of iron deficiency and prescribe iron supplements.

We do not hold data on the time taken for patients to receive a diagnosis of restless leg syndrome after first presenting with relevant symptoms.