Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps are being taken to improve adult outreach services from King's College Hospital to the South East Coast region.

NHS England has advised that it understands the Hon. Member is referring to the provision of specialised services for patients with neuromuscular conditions.

NHS England reports that it is providing transition funding to support an existing care coordinator post to support patients from the South East who have neuromuscular conditions, which is curently delivered by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (MDC). Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust received the funding for this post from November 2014.

NHS England has also confirmed that the transitional funding for the existing care co-ordinator post has been provided whilst the tertiary provider at Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been working to secure its own care co-ordinator to support patients. This post will support both children and adults in line with the previous arrangement.

We are advised that NHS England’s London team and local National Health Service providers have also reached agreement with the MDC for it to host a London and South East Neuromuscular Conditions Provider Network. The Strategic Clinical Networks in London and the South East are supporting the development of this provider network, which it is hoped will enable patients from the South East to access specialised outpatient services locally in the future so that they do not have to travel to London for care.