Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the recent survey by the Neurological Alliance, Restarting services for people with neurological conditions after the COVID-19 pandemic and planning for the longer term, published on 7 July, that (1) 47 per cent of those surveyed had had their appointments with a neurologist delayed because of COVID-19, and (2) almost 39 per cent of those who were due to see a neurologist were not given a future date for their delayed appointment; and when all NHS services for people with neurological conditions will reopen.

The Neurological Alliance report, Restarting services for people with neurological conditions after the COVID-19 pandemic and planning for the longer term, was published on 7 July 2020 and surveyed the views of over 1,600 people. Although no specific assessment of that survey has been made, the Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are of course aware that the need to take pressure off NHS services, to enable it to respond to pandemic, did have an impact on the provision of routine patient care.

Early in the pandemic NHS England and NHS Improvement advised that in-person consultations should only take place when absolutely necessary. As a result, providers have been rolling out remote consultations using video, telephone, email and text message services as a priority, including for those with neurological conditions.