As part of Pharmacy First minor illness consultations, pharmacists can already provide advice and recommend over-the-counter treatments for headaches and migraines. Pharmacists can also supply emergency medicines to patients already prescribed regular migraine medication as part of the urgent medicine supply element of Pharmacy First.

NHS England keeps the clinical scope of all pharmacy services under regular review, including Pharmacy First, and any changes to the conditions covered by the seven clinical pathways would be subject to consultation with Community Pharmacy England.

There is no nationally published waiting-time data specifically for headache and migraine services. Patients referred for specialist migraine care are captured within broader neurology statistics. As of the end of May 2026, there are nearly 214,700 pathways on the waiting list for neurology services. 61.4% of neurology pathways are waiting within 18 weeks for first treatment.

Reducing waiting lists, including for neurology services, is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission. We are committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.

The NHS RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit is supporting local NHS systems to improve headache and migraine services, including by providing practical guidance to improve pathways between primary and specialist care, and ensure patients receive the right intervention at the earliest opportunity.

Our 10-Year Health Plan sets a sustainable vision for elective care where by 2035, most outpatient care will happen outside of hospitals. Patients' access to specialists, including neurologists, will be improved by providing this specialist care in the community where possible and increasing digital access to specialists through the NHS App where it’s more convenient for patients.

There is no nationally published waiting-time data specifically for headache and migraine services. Patients referred for specialist migraine care are captured within broader neurology statistics. As of the end of May 2026, there are nearly 214,700 pathways on the waiting list for neurology services. 61.4% of neurology pathways are waiting within 18 weeks for first treatment.

Reducing waiting lists, including for neurology services, is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission. We are committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.

The NHS RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit is supporting local NHS systems to improve headache and migraine services, including by providing practical guidance to improve pathways between primary and specialist care, and ensure patients receive the right intervention at the earliest opportunity.

Our 10-Year Health Plan sets a sustainable vision for elective care where by 2035, most outpatient care will happen outside of hospitals. Patients' access to specialists, including neurologists, will be improved by providing this specialist care in the community where possible and increasing digital access to specialists through the NHS App where it’s more convenient for patients.

NHS England’s service specification for adult neurology sets out the overall standards and outcomes expected of providers. The specification makes clear that providers should deliver a holistic assessment and management approach for people with neurological conditions, including headache disorders. This includes appropriate consideration of co-existing mental health needs, safe and effective use of medicines, and adherence to relevant national guidance. Providers are expected to have robust arrangements for medicines optimisation and medication safety, including the identification and management of issues such as medication overuse in headache.

Clinical practice should also be informed by guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, including guidance on headaches, which supports comprehensive assessment, the identification of medication overuse, and safe prescribing. Integrated care boards, as commissioners of services, are responsible for ensuring that local pathways and clinical processes reflect these expectations and support high-quality, safe, and patient-centred care.

The Department does collect data on people whose work capability is affected by (i) migraine and (ii) related headache disorders. We publish WCA health conditions outcomes data by ICD10 summary groups because people may have multiple conditions within each summary group. Therefore, only the summary group is retained for publication purposes.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working with officials in the Home Office to support the changes agreed to in the letter from the Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health from July 2025. The group has met with stakeholders from the clinical trials community who gave advice and assurance on the proposed changes to the legislation.

The Department is committed to turbocharging clinical research and delivering better patient care, to make the United Kingdom a world-leading destination for clinical research. We are working to fast-track clinical trials, reducing barriers and unnecessary bureaucracy to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of the medicines and therapies of the future, including treatments for cluster headaches. We expect these efforts to attract more commercial investment in clinical research and to yield a broad and diverse portfolio of clinical trials in the UK.

The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with cluster headaches, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not made an assessment.

NICE has published a clinical guideline (CG150) on the diagnosis and management of headaches in children aged over 12 years old and recommends several treatments for tension-type headache, migraine, cluster headache and medication overuse headache. If new evidence on the use of sphenopalatine ganglion block became available, then NICE would consider the impact it has on its current recommendations.

NHS England also carefully reviewed the evidence to commission Sphenopalatine Ganglion Stimulation for Refractory Chronic Cluster Headache (Adults) in 2018, and concluded that there is not enough evidence to consider making the treatment available at this time. More information on the NHS evidence review is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sphenopalatine-Ganglion-Stimulation-for-Refractory-Chronic-Cluster-Headache-adults.pdf

NHS England can review this policy or consider a new policy for this treatment for a different clinical indication, in line with the published methods for clinical policy development, if a lead clinician considers that there is new published, peer reviewed evidence that should be considered.

No assessment has been made and there are no plans to make such an assessment. Decisions on local service provision are a matter for local commissioners.

This information is not collected.

Public Health England has not had discussions on the potential links between headaches and depression with any clinical bodies.

This information is not collected.

Information on finished emergency admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of migraine or other headache syndrome (ICD10 codes G43 and G44) by primary care trust (PCT) and clinical commissioning group (CCG) of residence for the years 2010-11 to 2012-13 has been placed in the Library.

For the years specified PCT boundaries were applicable. CCG geographies have been applied retrospectively for the years 2010-11 to 2012-13.

Reference should be made to the notes when interpreting this data.

Data cannot be provided on how many emergency hospital admissions in England with a primary diagnosis of migraine or other headache syndrome had a pre-existing medical diagnosis of migraine or primary headache syndrome prior to the emergency admission between 2011 and 2013 as information about pre-existing conditions is not available, only the conditions for which the patient received treatment.

Notes:

1. Finished admission episodes

A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

2. Primary diagnosis

The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital.

3. ICD10 Codes

The following ICD10 codes were used to identify migraine and other headache syndromes:

G43 Migraine

G44 Other headache syndromes

4. SHA/PCT of residence

The strategic health authority (SHA) or PCT containing the patient's normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another SHA/PCT for treatment.

A change in methodology in 2011-12 resulted in an increase in the number of records where the PCT or SHA of residence was unknown. From 2006-07 to 2010-11 the current PCT and SHA of residence fields were populated from the recorded patient postcode. In order to improve data completeness, if the postcode was unknown the PCT, SHA and country of residence were populated from the PCT/SHA value supplied by the provider. From April 2011-12 onwards if the patient postcode is unknown the PCT, SHA and country of residence are listed as unknown.

5. CCG of residence

The CCG containing the patient's normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another area for treatment.

Information on finished emergency admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of migraine or other headache syndrome (ICD10 codes G43 and G44) by primary care trust (PCT) and clinical commissioning group (CCG) of residence for the years 2010-11 to 2012-13 has been placed in the Library.

For the years specified PCT boundaries were applicable. CCG geographies have been applied retrospectively for the years 2010-11 to 2012-13.

Reference should be made to the notes when interpreting this data.

Data cannot be provided on how many emergency hospital admissions in England with a primary diagnosis of migraine or other headache syndrome had a pre-existing medical diagnosis of migraine or primary headache syndrome prior to the emergency admission between 2011 and 2013 as information about pre-existing conditions is not available, only the conditions for which the patient received treatment.

Notes:

1. Finished admission episodes

A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

2. Primary diagnosis

The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital.

3. ICD10 Codes

The following ICD10 codes were used to identify migraine and other headache syndromes:

G43 Migraine

G44 Other headache syndromes

4. SHA/PCT of residence

The strategic health authority (SHA) or PCT containing the patient's normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another SHA/PCT for treatment.

A change in methodology in 2011-12 resulted in an increase in the number of records where the PCT or SHA of residence was unknown. From 2006-07 to 2010-11 the current PCT and SHA of residence fields were populated from the recorded patient postcode. In order to improve data completeness, if the postcode was unknown the PCT, SHA and country of residence were populated from the PCT/SHA value supplied by the provider. From April 2011-12 onwards if the patient postcode is unknown the PCT, SHA and country of residence are listed as unknown.

5. CCG of residence

The CCG containing the patient's normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another area for treatment.