Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to increase the number of specialist practitioners (a) researching and (b) treating Tourette's syndrome in (i) North Yorkshire and (ii) the north of England.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Tourette’s syndrome, although it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. The NIHR has funded, or supported studies into, the causes of and treatments for Tourette’s syndrome, including a study on deep brain stimulation in people with the condition and a mixed-methods study to co-design a service model for children and young people with tic disorders.

Individual employers are responsible for ensuring that staff are trained, competent and have the necessary skills to safely and effectively treat patients in their care, including those with Tourette’s syndrome and other neurological disorders.

NHS England’s e-learning for Healthcare has produced modular online learning resources in relation to Tourette’s and other tic disorders, within its neurodevelopmental disorder and healthy schools programme domains, which are freely accessible to all, including service providers.

The Department has no specific plans to increase the number of specialist practitioners researching and treating Tourette’s Syndrome. The majority of services for people with Tourette’s syndrome are commissioned locally by integrated care boards, which are best placed to plan the provision of services subject to local prioritisation and need. In June 2023, NHS England published the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP), which sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. The LTWP is a high-level plan to support the NHS workforce as a whole, and is designed to identify the right supply of staff across all clinical pathways and specialisms rather than workforce plans for specific services.