Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidelines are in place for the diagnosis of primary hyperparathyrodism; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce misdiagnosis of that condition.

Hyperparathyroidism is a rare hormone disorder caused by the parathyroid glands in the neck producing too much parathyroid hormone. This causes blood calcium levels to rise (hypercalcaemia) and blood phosphorus levels to fall (hypophosphatemia).

Best Practice guidance concerning the diagnosis and management of both primary and secondary hyperparathyroidism has been published by the British Medical Journal. The guidance can be found via the Best Practice portal at the following link:

http://bestpractice.bmj.com/best-practice/welcome.html

In addition to this, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Clinical Knowledge Summaries website provides similar information on the management of hyperparathyroidism in the context of it being a cause of hypercalcaemia.

cks.nice.org.uk/hypercalcaemia#!scenario:1