Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Public Accounts Committee's 24th report of Session 2015-16, Services to people with neurological conditions: progress review, HC 502, what steps his Department is taking in response to the finding that services for people with neurological conditions are not consistently good enough and there remains wide variation across England in access, outcome and patient experience.

As recently seen in a report from Public Health England in 2018, there has been an increase in deaths associated with neurological conditions in England. As the report highlights, two major factors are likely to be contributing to this: the success of the National Health Service in improving survival rates from other conditions such as heart disease and cancer; and better diagnosis and recognition of neurological conditions. This important data is supporting commissioners and services planners to better understand the burden of disease, and the services that are needed to our changing population.

With more people living longer with neurological conditions, improving the care and support available is an important issue for the NHS. NHS England and NHS Improvement is the organisation responsible for securing and supporting high quality outcomes for people with neurological conditions, commissioning specialised neurological services nationally and supporting local commissioners with guidance and intelligence to deliver high quality neurological conditions for their resident populations.