Migraine: Health Services

The Government is committed to shifting more care from hospitals into community settings, ensuring that patients with chronic conditions such as migraine can access care closer to home. We support integrated, multidisciplinary models of care that bring together primary, community, and specialist services to better meet the needs of people living with long-term conditions, including migraine.

Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing local health needs and commissioning services for their populations, including community services for people with chronic conditions. NHS England's programmes, including Getting It Right First Time, NHS RightCare, and the development of integrated neighbourhood health services, support systems to improve care pathways, reduce unwarranted variation, and strengthen community-based care.

For people with neurological and other long-term neurological conditions like migraine, NHS England's Adult Neurology Service Specification supports the development of high-quality community-based migraine care by promoting integrated neurological pathways that enable patients to receive appropriate assessment, treatment, and ongoing management closer to home wherever possible. The specification encourages collaboration between primary care, community services, and specialist neurology teams, helping to ensure timely access to expert advice, clear referral pathways, and coordinated care for people with migraine. By supporting a multidisciplinary approach and ensuring that specialist services are focused on patients with the most complex needs, the specification aims to improve patient experience, reduce unwarranted variation in care, and make better use of National Health Service resources.