Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of disparities in therapy provision for children with hemiplegia across integrated care boards on those children.

The Government recognises the importance of access to therapy for children with neuromuscular disorders like hemiplegia, and that early intervention is shown to be the most effective.

NHS England’s service specification for paediatric neurodisability services outlines that paediatric specialist neurodisability services should be delivered by paediatricians trained in neurodisability and neurology who will be the core deliverers of care. They should have a multidisciplinary team working with them comprised of a paediatric physiotherapist, a paediatric occupational therapist, and a paediatric speech and language therapist, among others.

The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, has recently funded a research project with King’s College London on transforming early rehabilitation for children with hemiplegia. The Parents as Partners in Rehabilitation project was designed to enhance support for parents, providing them with the tools and guidance to take an active role in their child’s rehabilitation and giving them the confidence to deliver therapy at home. The project has brought families and clinicians together to co-design a practical, evidence-based guide to support parents partnering with therapists to continue delivering evidence-based intensive upper limb interventions at home, following hands-on learning in the clinic.