Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the way that facial palsy treatment is (a) assessed and (b) funded.

It is for the local clinical commissioning groups to commission high-quality services that meet the needs of their local population. Decisions about treatment, including for palsy, should always be based on patients’ clinical needs and informed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines.

NICE clinical guidelines make many recommendations spanning all stages of care from diagnosis to treatment of a condition. Health professionals and organisations are expected to take the guidance fully into account when deciding what treatments to give people.

The NICE guidelines on the management of Bell’s Palsy can be found at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/bells-palsy#!scenario