Multiple Sclerosis: Staffordshire
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people with Multiple Sclerosis in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
Integrated care boards (ICBs), including the NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB, which covers Newcastle-under-Lyme, is responsible for commissioning services for their local population, including for those with multiple sclerosis (MS). The Government expects ICBs to assess the demand for service provision when designing their local services.
At the national level, initiatives such as NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme and the NHS RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions toolkit both aim to reduce unwarranted variation in services and improve equity of care for people with MS.
NHS England’s Neurology Transformation Programme developed a new model of integrated care for neurology services, to support systems to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with MS. This focused on providing equitable access across the country, care as close to home as possible, and early intervention to prevent illness and deterioration in patients with long-term neurological conditions.
The Neurology Transformation Programme developed guidance on improving access to disease-modifying treatments for MS with the aim of enabling people to receive care closer to home. The guidance includes successful delivery models and good practice case studies, and has been made available to National Health Service colleagues.
The Neurology Transformation Programme worked with a number of systems across England to implement change and also to assess the impact on access to specialised neurology care, including care from specialist nurses, for people living with MS.
On 13 August 2025, NHS England updated its service specification for specialised adult neurology services, following extensive consultation. The service specification includes guidance on both the specialised and core neurology services that should be available for patients with MS, with a clear model for networked care to improve access to specialist services in underserved areas. The service specification outlines that specialised neurology centres must include access to treatment services for MS and must have clear pathways for access to disease-modifying therapies. The service specification is available at the following link:
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