East Kilbride MP, Dr Lisa Cameron, met with a local campaigner suffering from Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) recently.
She joined Mark Lees and his wife and is championing greater support for the condition.
Ms Cameron had previously met with Mark through his work with local bands in East Kilbride.
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He spoke about how his recent diagnosis with FND has had a significant impact upon his daily life.
FND is a neurological condition currently impacting up to 100,000 adults and up to 20,000 young adults under the age of 16 in the UK.
Mark Lees said: “It was great to meet with Ms Cameron and raise much needed awareness of the effects of functional neurological disorder. I will continue to actively work with her to progress these issues at the highest level."
FND is characterised by a problem with the functioning of the nervous system and patients live with life-changing symptoms, similar to Parkinson’s Disease and long-term disability comparable to that with MS.
Historically it has been a marginalised illness, often falling through the gap of the divide between neurology and psychiatry.
Ms Cameron said: "It was very informative to meet with Mark Lees and his wife at my surgery in East Kilbride where he was able to tell me about his experience of FND and lack of specialist support available currently.
"I will be raising this matter in my capacity as Chair of the Health All Party Group with the Minister and attending the campaign event being held in the House of Commons. I will keep in touch with Mark to progress support for local constituents with FND."
FND Hope UK recently surveyed provision of multidisciplinary rehabilitation for people with FND and found that 50 per cent of UK health boards had no specific agreement to treat the condition and a shocking nine per cent said that they did not accept referrals for treatment.
Only 35 per cent said they had plans to improve their services for people with FND and only 35 per cent said they were potentially interested in accessing further education or support to improve services.
This means that people living with FND may not have access to the care and treatment they urgently need.
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