Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the time and accuracy of migraine diagnosis in primary care.

The Department recognises that delays in diagnosis and treatment can affect individuals’ quality of life and may lead to greater symptom burden and wider impacts on education, employment, and wellbeing.

Clinical management of migraine is supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which has published guidance on the diagnosis and management of headaches. This guidance helps clinicians to diagnose migraine more promptly and to provide appropriate acute and preventive treatments based on individual clinical need.

NHS England is supporting improvements in migraine care through national programmes such as the RightCare headache and migraine toolkit and the Getting It Right First Time neurology programme. These initiatives are focused on reducing unwarranted variation in care, improving diagnostic accuracy, particularly in primary care, and ensuring patients can access specialist services where appropriate.

Responsibility for commissioning migraine services rests with integrated care boards, which are best placed to plan and deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations. This includes access to primary care, specialist neurology services, and newer treatments where clinically indicated.

There are currently no plans to establish a national champion for migraine. The Department continues to engage with NHS England, clinical experts, and patient groups to understand the challenges faced by those living with migraine and to consider how services and support can be improved.

More broadly, the Government remains committed to improving outcomes for people with long-term conditions through ongoing system reform, workforce expansion, and a focus on earlier diagnosis and better community-based care.