Asked by: Dean Russell (Conservative - Watford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support children with cerebral palsy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a range of guidance on care and support for children and young people and adults with cerebral palsy, to support healthcare professionals and commissioners. The guidance recommends service providers develop clear pathways that allow patients with cerebral palsy access to multi-disciplinary teams, specialist neurology services and regular reviews of their clinical and functional needs.
NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Programme aims to improve care for people with neurological conditions, including those with cerebral palsy, by reducing variation and delivering care more equitably across the country.
The majority of services for people with cerebral palsy are commissioned locally by integrated care boards, which are best placed to make decisions according to local need. Nevertheless, at a national level, the Government is working closely with NHS England to continue to improve services for people with neurological conditions, including those with cerebral palsy.
The NHS Long-term Workforce Plan (LTWP) aims to grow the number and proportion of National Health Service staff working in mental health, primary and community care. The LTWP, published in 2023, sets out an ambition to grow these roles 73% by 2036/37, including plans to increase the community workforce specifically by 3.9% each year. By growing the community workforce, we will be better able to support people to participate in daily living, including those with cerebral palsy.
As set out in the LTWP, NHS England’s ambition is that, by 2028, no child or young person will be lost in the gaps between any children’s and adult services, and that their experience of moving between services is safe, well planned and prepared for so they feel supported and empowered to make decisions about their health and social care needs. The Department is working closely with NHS England to support this work, and the Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme has developed a national framework for transition which includes the key principles of a 0-25 model of care, including for young people with cerebral palsy.
Asked by: Dean Russell (Conservative - Watford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support adults with cerebral palsy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a range of guidance on care and support for children and young people and adults with cerebral palsy, to support healthcare professionals and commissioners. The guidance recommends service providers develop clear pathways that allow patients with cerebral palsy access to multi-disciplinary teams, specialist neurology services and regular reviews of their clinical and functional needs.
NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Programme aims to improve care for people with neurological conditions, including those with cerebral palsy, by reducing variation and delivering care more equitably across the country.
The majority of services for people with cerebral palsy are commissioned locally by integrated care boards, which are best placed to make decisions according to local need. Nevertheless, at a national level, the Government is working closely with NHS England to continue to improve services for people with neurological conditions, including those with cerebral palsy.
The NHS Long-term Workforce Plan (LTWP) aims to grow the number and proportion of National Health Service staff working in mental health, primary and community care. The LTWP, published in 2023, sets out an ambition to grow these roles 73% by 2036/37, including plans to increase the community workforce specifically by 3.9% each year. By growing the community workforce, we will be better able to support people to participate in daily living, including those with cerebral palsy.
As set out in the LTWP, NHS England’s ambition is that, by 2028, no child or young person will be lost in the gaps between any children’s and adult services, and that their experience of moving between services is safe, well planned and prepared for so they feel supported and empowered to make decisions about their health and social care needs. The Department is working closely with NHS England to support this work, and the Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme has developed a national framework for transition which includes the key principles of a 0-25 model of care, including for young people with cerebral palsy.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to increase (a) awareness of and (b) research investment in postural tachycardia syndrome.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To improve awareness of postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) amongst healthcare professionals, and specifically general practices (GPs), the Royal College of General Practitioners provides training on PoTS as part of its Syncope toolkit, which is available at the following link:
https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=12386&chapterid=247
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also produced a clinical knowledge summary, last revised in November 2023, which outlines the method healthcare professionals should follow for diagnosing PoTS. This summary is available at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/blackouts-syncope/diagnosis/assessment/
GPs are asked to investigate symptoms to ensure that it is not misdiagnosed. Following referral, patients are treated within National Health Service cardiology and neurology services. Where more specialist advice is required, a referral will be made to an appropriate clinician.
Services for PoTS are locally commissioned and, as such, it is the responsibility of the local commissioning teams within integrated care boards to ensure that their locally commissioned services meet the needs of their local population.
The Department invests over £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds research in response to proposals received from scientists rather than allocating funding to specific disease areas. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including PoTS, although it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support people living with postural tachycardia syndrome.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To improve awareness of postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) amongst healthcare professionals, and specifically general practices (GPs), the Royal College of General Practitioners provides training on PoTS as part of its Syncope toolkit, which is available at the following link:
https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=12386&chapterid=247
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also produced a clinical knowledge summary, last revised in November 2023, which outlines the method healthcare professionals should follow for diagnosing PoTS. This summary is available at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/blackouts-syncope/diagnosis/assessment/
GPs are asked to investigate symptoms to ensure that it is not misdiagnosed. Following referral, patients are treated within National Health Service cardiology and neurology services. Where more specialist advice is required, a referral will be made to an appropriate clinician.
Services for PoTS are locally commissioned and, as such, it is the responsibility of the local commissioning teams within integrated care boards to ensure that their locally commissioned services meet the needs of their local population.
The Department invests over £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds research in response to proposals received from scientists rather than allocating funding to specific disease areas. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including PoTS, although it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
Asked by: Damian Collins (Conservative - Folkestone and Hythe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many times the Sports Concussion Research Forum has met as of 13 March 2024; what priority areas for research it has (a) identified and (b) taken steps to deliver; and what (i) guidance and (ii) findings it has presented to (A) her Department and (B) other bodies for which she is responsible.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Evidence-based sports research is an important component in ensuring that sport is made as safe as possible for all participants. To that end, DCMS established a Sports Concussion Research Forum in July 2022, chaired by the Medical Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation. This brings together key academic experts with experience of traumatic brain injury, neurology and concussion to identify the priority research questions for the sporting sector.
The Research Forum has met five times since its inception and is now formulating a report to identify those priority research questions, with the report expected to be completed in 2024.
The Government remains committed to working with sports stakeholders to build on the positive work that is already taking place to mitigate the causes and effects of concussion in sport.
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the scope of the Major Conditions Strategy does not include hundreds of neurological conditions.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government announced a Major Conditions Strategy in January 2023, focusing on six groups of conditions that account for over 60% of ill health and early death in England. This has allowed us to look at similarities in approach across these conditions,and where there might be opportunities to ensure care is better centered around the patient. This means that many of the solutions identified in the final strategy may benefit patients and users of health and social care services beyond the six major condition groups, including neurological conditions.
The Department has worked closely with a range of stakeholders to develop the strategy, including people with lived experience and organisations representing patients, carers, and conditions. This includes engagement with the Neurological Alliance.
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to work with NHS England, commissioners and providers to use the new optimal clinical pathways for the benefit of patients with neurological conditions.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
New optimal clinical pathways for a range of neurological conditions were developed by the National Neurosciences Advisory Group (NNAG). These pathways set out what good treatment, care and support should look like across a range of neurological conditions. They also help to guide and facilitate the commissioning of high-quality, effective neurology services by integrated care boards (ICBs). The optimal clinical pathways are published on the NNAG website in an online-only format.
No formal assessment has been made of the potential impact of the new optimal clinical pathways for those with neurological conditions. The Department is working with the NHS England Neurology Transformation Programme in developing a toolkit of resources for ICB commissioners. The NHS England toolkit includes reference to the new optimal clinical pathways developed by the NNAG, signposting them as a resource for use in the continued development of local services.
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of new optimal clinical pathways for those with neurological conditions.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
New optimal clinical pathways for a range of neurological conditions were developed by the National Neurosciences Advisory Group (NNAG). These pathways set out what good treatment, care and support should look like across a range of neurological conditions. They also help to guide and facilitate the commissioning of high-quality, effective neurology services by integrated care boards (ICBs). The optimal clinical pathways are published on the NNAG website in an online-only format.
No formal assessment has been made of the potential impact of the new optimal clinical pathways for those with neurological conditions. The Department is working with the NHS England Neurology Transformation Programme in developing a toolkit of resources for ICB commissioners. The NHS England toolkit includes reference to the new optimal clinical pathways developed by the NNAG, signposting them as a resource for use in the continued development of local services.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
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 help increase the number of qualified neurologists in England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Health Education England created five additional training posts for neurology for 2023, with NHS England having created a further 10 additional posts for neurology for 2024. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) published by NHS England in June 2023 sets out an aim to double the number of medical school places in England to 15,000 places a year by 2031/32, and to work towards this expansion by increasing places by a third, to 10,000 a year, by 2028/29.
The LTWP commits to an adequate growth in foundation placement capacity, as those taking up these new places begin to graduate, and a commensurate increase in specialty training places that meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for the neurology workforce.
As of November 2023, there are 1,788 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology working in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England which is an increase of 741 or 70.7% compared to 2010. This includes 932 FTE consultants which is 396 or 73.9% more than in 2010.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support people living with motor neurone disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a clinical guideline on the assessment and management of motor neurone disease (MND), to support its diagnosis. The guideline recommends coordinated care for people with MND, using a clinic based, MND specialist, multi-disciplinary team approach. The core multi-disciplinary team should consist of healthcare and other professionals with expertise in MND, and should include specialist nurses.
The Government has committed to delivering at least £50 million to support MND research over five years, from 2022 onwards, as part of a package of £375 million for research into neurodegenerative diseases. In June 2023, the Government announced that more than £35 million of the £50 million pledged to cutting-edge MND research has now been allocated, just two years into a five-year funding commitment. Work continues at pace to support MND researchers in submitting high-quality bids for open funding calls. Further information is available at the following link:
NHS England commissions specialised services to support people living with MND, as set out in the published service specification for specialised neurology services. The support provided includes the provision of multi-disciplinary care from specialist clinicians, including neurologists, specialist nurses, speech and language therapists, dietetics and nutrition support, and physiotherapy, depending on individual clinical need. The service specification for specialised neurology services is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d04-neurosci-spec-neuro.pdf
In addition, NHS England commissions a specialised communication aid service known as Augmentative and Alternative Communication, as set out in the published service specification. This service supports and prioritises individuals with rapidly degenerative conditions, including MND. The service specification for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, is available at the following link: