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 help improve (a) rates of early diagnosis, (b) access to treatment and (c) specialist care for people with rare diseases.

The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community. These include helping patients get a final diagnosis faster, increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals, better coordination of care and improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. We published the annual England Rare Diseases Action Plan in February, where we report on the steps we have taken to advance these priorities in the preceding year. The Government will be working with the devolved nations this year to review what comes next following the expiry of the UK Rare Diseases Framework in 2026.