Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent specialist nurses for a neurological condition were employed in each region of England in each of the last five years.

The National Health Service annual workforce census provides information on the number of nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff employed in the NHS in England but does not separately identify specialist nurses employed in neurological conditions.

It is for local NHS organisations with their knowledge of the healthcare needs of their local population to invest in training for specialist skills and to deploy specialist nurses. Specialist nurses provide invaluable support for patients and their families. They are able to provide specialist treatment and advice and act as a gateway to other members of the multidisciplinary team, which can both save the NHS money and, more importantly, improve care and outcomes for patients.

Health Education England (HEE) supports employers with Continuous Personal and Professional Development. HEE's planning process has created the opportunity for employers, through their membership of local education training boards, to prioritise investment between training the future supply of healthcare professional and the development of existing staff, but it is currently for these local partnerships to identify their relative priorities for investment.