Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit health element applicants (a) had Parkinson's as their primary condition and (b) were found eligible in the last (i) three, (ii) six and (iii) twelve months.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 (a) recruitment, (b) retention and (c) training of specialist healthcare professionals for Parkinson’s care in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual NHS employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure that they have the staff that they need to deliver safe and effective care.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, this Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals. To support this ambition, the Government will introduce a new set of standards for modern employment in April 2026. The new standards will reaffirm our commitment to improving retention, including in Surrey Heath, by tackling the issues that matter to staff.
We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The plan will ensure that the NHS has the right people in the right places, including in Surrey Heath, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure the new NHS workforce plan will provide the number of specialists required for Parkinson’s care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to publishing a 10-Year Workforce Plan which will create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, including specialists across the full scope of National Health Service care.
We have set up a UK-wide Neuro Forum, facilitating formal, biannual meetings across the Department, NHS England, devolved governments, and health services and Neurological Alliances of all four nations. The new forum brings key stakeholders together to share learnings across the system and discuss challenges, best practice examples and potential solutions for improving the care of people with neurological conditions. The Forum has identified areas for initial focus, including workforce which featured as a key item on the agenda at the second meeting of the forum in September.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) current and (b) projected workforce needs for specialist Parkinson’s (i) consultants and (ii) nurses in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no specific assessment of the adequacy of the current or projected workforce needs for specialist Parkinson’s consultants or nurses in Surrey Heath constituency.
Integrated care boards will plan, commission, and oversee the provision of local National Health Service services to meet their population’s needs.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of people with a Parkinson’s diagnosis were diagnosed by a specialist; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of that proportion.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Guidance on Parkinson’s disease in adults published by the National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that people with suspected Parkinson's disease are referred for an expert clinical diagnosis by a specialist without delay, and that the diagnosis should be reviewed regularly by a specialist.
While a formal diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease should always be undertaken by a specialist, NHS England does not hold information centrally to audit this.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support available to people with Parkinson's disease in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Rt.Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 September 2025 to Question UIN 72849.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there are Parkinson's trained assessors for benefit assessments involving applicants with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to ensuring that individuals with Parkinson’s disease and other health conditions receive high-quality, objective, and accurate assessments. To uphold this commitment, DWP has established clear competency standards for health professionals (HPs), as outlined in its official guidance and regulatory framework.
DWP recognises the importance of ensuring HPs conducting assessments possess the necessary experience, skills, and training. To uphold this standard, DWP has established clear competency requirements, outlined in both guidance and regulations. Assessment suppliers must demonstrate that their HPs meet these standards before they are authorised to carry out assessments on behalf of the department.
DWP does not require HPs to be specialists in the specific medical conditions or impairments of the individuals they assess. Instead, the emphasis is on ensuring HPs are experts in disability analysis, focusing on how a person’s condition affects their daily life and functional abilities.
All HPs receive thorough training in disability analysis, which includes evaluating the impact of a wide range of health conditions on everyday activities. To support this, DWP provides suppliers with core training material and guidance on conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease. These contain clinical and functional information relevant to the condition and is quality assured to ensure its accuracy from both a clinical and policy perspective.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the number of patients who have been referred by their GP for a possible Parkinson's diagnosis and are not seen by a neurologist or geriatrician within 18 weeks in line with NICE guidance.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the importance of a timely diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and remain committed to delivering the National Health Service constitutional standard for 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. This includes patients waiting for elective treatment on neurological pathways.
We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring lists and waiting times down. We provided additional investment in the Autumn Budget 2024 that has enabled us to fulfil our pledge to deliver over two million more elective care appointments early. More than double that number, 4.9 million more appointments, have now been delivered.
The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard.
The Getting It Right First Time programme, which provides tailored regional and national support to providers, also has a neurology specific Further Faster workstream. This is a clinically led initiative supporting peer to peer learning and improvement. A neurology 'handbook' and checklist with benchmarked data and case studies has been published and there are regular neurology online sessions for clinical and operational leads.
The shifts outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan will free up hospital-based neurologists’ and geriatricians’ time by shifting care from hospitals to communities, utilising digital technology to reduce administrative burdens, and promoting prevention to reduce the onset and severity of neurological conditions that lead to hospital admissions. This includes expanding community-based services, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, developing integrated neighbourhood health teams, and investing in digital tools and data. These shifts will enable earlier identification and management of Parkinson's disease, allowing specialists to focus on complex cases and improve patient outcomes.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of missed medication in hospitals on Parkinson’s patients in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Hospital providers across England, including hospitals in the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) area, are responsible for ensuring that patients within hospital settings, including those with Parkinson’s disease, receive their appropriate medication on time. There are tools to support both patients and staff to achieve this. Electronic prescribing systems, currently in use in 85% of hospitals in England, enable in-depth monitoring and reporting on missed or delayed dosing of medications.
As set out in the 10 Year Health Plan, we will support people with long-term conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, across England, including in Newcastle-under-Lyme and the wider Staffordshire area, to better manage their condition, including managing their medication. As part of the NHS App, the My Medicines section will enable patients to manage their prescriptions and remind them when to take their medications, and the My Health section will enable patients to monitor their symptoms and will bring all their data into one place. Patients will be able to decide whether their data is shared in real-time with care teams, so they can proactively monitor health and intervene when necessary.
Guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on Parkinson’s disease in adults highlights the importance of patients getting Parkinson’s medicines on time to prevent harmful effects. The NICE guidance states that people with Parkinson’s disease who are admitted to hospital or care homes should be given their medicines at the appropriate times, which, in some cases, may mean allowing self-medication.
Parkinson’s UK has produced resources as part of its Get It on Time campaign, which supports people with Parkinson's with medicine management in preparation for a hospital stay. These resources can also support hospital and care home staff to make sure that patients and residents get their medication on time, every time.
NHS England has also published guidance, developed in partnership with charities, including Parkinson’s UK, to help local National Health Service staff take practical steps to improve the care for patients with progressive neurological conditions in hospitals, including hospitals in the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB area. The Right Care Toolkit for progressive neurological conditions provides advice on medicine optimisation, highlighting the importance of timely administration of specific drugs for Parkinson’s, such as Levodopa, in both acute and community health settings.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to provide people with Parkinson's disease with a personal plan to allow (a) access to, (b) advice from and (c) treatment by a multidisciplinary team of (i) Parkinson’s nurses, (ii) physiotherapists, (iii) nutritionists, (iv) speech therapists and (v) other relevant health professionals.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our 10-Year Health Plan will ensure that people with complex needs are supported to be active participants in their own care. As part of this, 95% of people with complex needs or long-term conditions like Parkison’s disease will have an agreed personalised care plan by 2027. Care plans will be a feature of the developing Neighbourhood Health Service, which will provide integrated, accessible, and localised services that will focus on early detection and diagnosis, and comprehensive multidisciplinary care. By being community-based, the centres will reduce barriers to care and ongoing support and will empower patients to manage their condition more effectively.
From 2026, ‘Diagnosis Connect’ will ensure patients are referred directly to trusted charities and support organisations as soon as they are diagnosed. It will ensure that patients are provided with timely, personalised advice, information, and guidance to help them manage their condition, improve their control over it, and navigate the complex support systems they may face. The Department has already had conversations with Parkinson’s UK about its ‘Parkinson’s Connect’ programme and will continue to do so in the context of ‘Diagnosis Connect’.