Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to support research into Functional Neurological Disorder.

The Department delivers research into functional neurological disorder (FND) via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

This includes £350,000 of NIHR funding for research which seeks to co-develop behaviour change interventions to support people with FND to rehabilitate within the community, with the help of occupational therapists, enhancing their abilities to self-manage symptoms within daily routines.

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including FND. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.