Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of patients who would potentially benefit from selective dorsal rhizotomy each year.

NHS England does not currently routinely fund Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) due to the limited available evidence of its clinical and cost effectiveness compared to other available treatments and therapies.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Clinical Guideline 145 recommends that SDR can be considered to improve walking ability in children and young people with spasticity at Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level II or III.

The incidence of cerebral palsy (based on international estimates) is between 150 and 250 per 100,000 live births per year, with about 15% having spastic diplegia and a GMFCS level of II or III. This would equate to between 155 to 258 cases of cerebral palsy with spastic diplegia and a GMFCS level of II or III who might be considered for SDR in England per year.