The Government is committed to supporting those with achalasia. Achalasia can affect both adults and children. The paediatric aspect is commissioned through specialised commissioning but if it is missed in childhood, any adults who present with it are usually managed within locally commissioned, secondary care gastroenterology, endoscopy, upper gastrointestinal surgical services. Diagnosis usually requires oesophageal manometry, which most large secondary care gastro/endoscopy units can provide.

Management of the condition is usually endoscopic or surgical with a myotomy, splitting the muscle in the lower oesophageal sphincter valve. The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the handful of centres in the United Kingdom offering endoscopic myotomy. Leeds also has an established surgical service offering keyhole myotomy and anti-reflux surgery and these procedures can sometimes be done with robotic assistance. They also have specialist dietetic support for patients requiring nutritional support leading up to surgery.

In addition, the 10-Year Health Plan sets out the Government’s vision for the Neighbourhood Health Service. The Neighbourhood Health Framework has now been published, and will enable a more joined-up approach that delivers more preventative, local, personalised, and digitally enabled care for everyone, including people living with achalasia. Central to the plans are Neighbourhood Health Centres, which will bring more care closer to where people live. This is supported by the NHS App, which will become a health companion that makes it easier for patients to access the NHS. It will give patients a more seamless experience across their health journey.

The Government is committed to improving the diagnosis and treatment of achalasia. Work is underway to support an increase in the use of the Advice and Refer/Single Point of Access model, which can in turn improve waiting times for all gastro patients, including those with achalasia or suspected achalasia.

More broadly, the Neighbourhood Health Framework has now been published, and will enable a more joined-up approach that delivers more preventative, local, personalised, and digitally enabled care for everyone, including for people living with achalasia. Central to the plans are neighbourhood health centres, which will bring more care closer to where people live. This is supported by the NHS App, which will become a health companion that makes it easier for patients to access the National Health Service. It will give patients a seamless experience across their health journey.

As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning by March 2029 to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment. As a first step to achieving this, we exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans and appointments in our first year of government, having delivered 5.2 million more appointments.

We are also committed to transforming diagnostic services and are supporting the NHS to increase diagnostic capacity to bring down the size of the list and reduce waiting times. We know that there is more to do and that is why we have set a national target in the Medium Term Planning Framework. For any key diagnostic test, no more than 14% of patients will wait longer than six weeks as the end of March 2027, with a target for all providers to ensure by March 2029 that 1% or less of patients wait beyond six weeks.

Diagnosis of achalasia usually requires oesophageal manometry, which most large secondary care gastro/endoscopy units can provide. General monthly diagnostic data is accessible at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/monthly-diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/monthly-diagnostics-data-2025-26/

There is no NHS dataset on a national level that reports waiting times specifically for oesophageal manometry, as this test is not included in NHS England’s DM01 Monthly Diagnostics Waiting Times collection. As a result, no national average or benchmark is published as waiting times can only be obtained at a local level.

The Government is committed to improving the lives of people living with rare diseases through the UK Rare Diseases Framework. One of the priorities of the framework is improving awareness of all rare diseases, including Achalasia, among healthcare professionals. In England, we published the fifth action plan updating on the progress of this priority of the UK Rare Diseases Framework on 27 February 2026.

The NHS National Genomics Education Programme provides information to health care professionals through the online resource GeNotes. Since launching in 2022, GeNotes has expanded to 12 specialties, and more than 150 rare diseases. New diseases continue to be added.

Information for families on Achalasia is available on the National Health Service website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/achalasia/

Pathways for managing patients with achalasia are set out in the NHS England Specialised Commissioning Paediatric Medicine: Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Service Specification. The current specification was published in 2013/14, and there are no plans to update this specification at this time. The specification sets out that patients with achalasia should be managed within Specialist Paediatric Gastroenterology Centres under the care of an expert multidisciplinary team.

Patients with achalasia may also receive care from a specialist surgical team, within Specialised Surgery in Children services, to help manage their condition. The NHS England Specialised Surgery in Children service specification sets out standards for these services, and an updated specification is due for publication in 2026.

The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as achalasia. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities, collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, which include better coordination of care and improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. We remain committed to delivering under the framework, and will publish an annual England action plan in 2025.

There are no plans to amend the UK Rare Disease Framework for this condition. The framework is a high-level document focused on improving the lives of all people living with rare conditions. Whilst there are approximately 7,000 rare conditions, many share common challenges, which the framework seeks to address.

Pathways for managing patients with achalasia are set out in the NHS England Specialised Commissioning Paediatric Medicine: Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Service Specification. This specification is due to be updated in 2024/25.