Policy and campaigns

People with migraine have been overlooked for too long

We want all politicians and policy makers to understand the true impact of migraine on peoples’ lives, and to take action to improve care across the UK.

This is why we campaign to improve care, support and awareness for people with migraine. We are making progress, but we have a long way to go.

What do we do?

  • Research the issues faced by people with migraine, and what needs to change, to improve migraine care
  • Promote good practice in migraine care with healthcare leaders
  • Build relationships with cross-party politicians across the UK, and senior health policy makers

Everything just takes so long. Waiting lists are huge and there aren’t enough doctors or hospitals with appointments or even clinics. I’ve been referred from hospital to hospital and seen so much different people. With migraine you have to try so many different things to try and find something that works, it means you just end up waiting and waiting

Antoinette, who has lived with migraine since she was a child

Join us by contacting your local politician or representative

Find out about opportunities to get involved and use your voice to help us create change

Contact your MP or local representative 

What change are we asking for?

  • For all GPs to have up-to-date training on migraine care and the latest treatments
  • Access to community migraine/headache specialist clinics for everyone who needs specialist care
  • Equitable access to treatments for all eligible patients
  • Greater understanding in society about the impact of migraine and an end to stigma
  • Migraine-friendly workplaces and schools as the norm.

With a general election due in 2024, this is a critical year to raise the voice and visibility of people with migraine.

Timeline of action

On the heels of Westminster and Scotland, our next event in the Welsh Parliament sponsored by Mark Isherwood MS sought to introduce 18 local migraine representatives to politicians in the country

A further patients’ event we organised in the Scottish Parliament involved a roundtable where patient representatives met several MSPs including Jackson Carlaw MSP, who lives with chronic migraine, and the Scottish Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, Jenni Minto

We held a reception in Westminster that brought politicians together with 30 patient representatives living with migraine to hear their stories and about how they often have to fight to get the right treatment

Members of the House of Lords debated the impact of migraine and its treatment on people in work

Our latest report ‘Heading in the wrong direction: Challenges in migraine care and why people with migraine deserve better’ noted rising waiting times in the NHS and called for a national drive to improve migraine care, and over 60 politicians showed their support for Migraine Awareness Week

Read the report: Heading in the wrong direction – The Migraine Trust

Our research on migraine at work found that over a third of people have experienced discrimination at work because of their migraines and 25% had had to leave a job altogether

Find out more >

We launched toolkits in all four parliaments of the UK to help politicians and their members of staff to support constituents and colleagues impacted by migraine

We shone a light on how the 1 in 10 children and young people living with migraine are impacted at school and in their day-to-day lives, drawing on experiences from them, parents and carers, and educators

Dismissed for too long – The impact of migraine on children and young people (September 2022)

We used Freedom of Information data to uncover the landscape of migraine care in the NHS and found inconsistencies in access to approved treatments

Dismissed for too long_Recommendations to improve migraine care in the UK