Answer from Hansard

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Mrs Sharon Hodgson)

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that very important matter. My sympathy is with the Lake family, and I commend them for their advocacy on this issue. I am acutely aware of the matter, having met the hon. Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) and her constituents about this issue last week, in a very moving meeting. I assure my hon. Friend that the Department is working with partners to see whether it is possible to set up a multi-condition evaluation, so that not only MLD but other rare conditions can be assessed alongside the existing screening programmes.