Headache and Migraine Toolkit

Approximately 10 million people live with migraine in the UK, 3 million workdays are lost every year due to migraine-related absenteeism costing almost £4.4 billion and headache is amongst the most common neurological reasons for A&E attendance.

Developed in partnership with The Neurological Alliance, this Headache and Migraine Toolkit will support systems to understand the priorities in headache and migraine care and key actions to take. It provides opportunity to assess and benchmark current systems to find opportunities for improvement. It is produced with reference to an expert group of stakeholders and is supported by NICE.

Wider consultation has taken place with patient representatives, clinicians, social care organisations, professional bodies and other key stakeholders

Commissioners responsible for supporting people with headache and migraine for their population should:

  • Use the Headache and Migraine toolkit to work across your systems ensuring that where possible the following improvement priorities are applied:
    • Correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders
    • Making appropriate referrals to secondary care
    • Support patients to self manage their condition after diagnosis
    • Long term management of patients in primary or community care
  • Use the self-assessment questionnaire to baseline your services and assess the extent of your improvement activity.

Relevant links to support implementation are included throughout this resource.