Monthly Archive
South Wales West Assembly Member launches urgent Cross Party Inquiry
South Wales West Assembly Member, Dr Dai Lloyd AM, has launched the first ever Welsh Assembly Cross Party Group Inquiry into muscle disease alongside families and clinicians from across Wales in response to the failing services for patients living with the condition in Wales.
The Inquiry is being undertaken by the Cross Party Group (CPG) on Muscular Dystrophy and is being chaired by Dr Dai Lloyd AM. It will focus on crucial issues such as access to specialist multi-disciplinary care, funding of services and the role of care co-ordinators in the treatment of children and adults with muscle disease.
At the launch, Dr Lloyd emphasised the importance of the Inquiry in stepping up the campaign for improved services in Wales and encouraged people living with muscle disease to take an active role in the Inquiry, both in the oral evidence sessions and in providing written evidence. A number of crucial issues were raised in discussions with clinicians and families which will be a central part of the report by the CPG to be presented to the Welsh Assembly Government next summer.
Assembly Members were spurred into action after hearing from families of the lack of specialist care for vulnerable patients in Wales.
The CPG investigation follows the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s Building on the Foundations in Wales campaign launched in February 2008, which revealed that life expectancy and quality of life is being seriously affected by a ‘postcode lottery’ in service provision.
The report also showed that 70 percent of Local Health Boards fail to support any child or adult muscle clinics within their area.
Over the next six months, the Group will seek evidence from:
• patients and their families;
• health and social care professionals;
• Local Health Boards across Wales;
• officials from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Department of Health;
• professional bodies
Commenting on the Inquiry, Dr Dai Lloyd AM, Chair of the Cross Party Group on Muscular Dystrophy, said:
“It is clear that Wales is lagging behind much of the UK in the specialist neuromuscular services it provides, with five times less clinical activity in Wales than in Scotland and England, and this is projected to get worse.
“It is vital to ensure that all patients have access to timely specialist diagnosis, assessment, treatment and on-going care, especially people in rural areas where services are particularly inaccessible and inadequate.”
Director of Policy at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, Robert Meadowcroft, said:
“The fact that Assembly Members felt they needed to conduct this Cross Party Group Inquiry shows just how dramatically people are being let down.
“We hope that the Welsh Assembly Government and NHS commissioners across Wales sit up and take note of the group’s forthcoming recommendations.”
The CPG is calling on interested parties to submit evidence by March 2010. In order to submit evidence, please visit www.muscular-dystrophy.org
The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign is the leading UK charity focusing on muscle disease. It has pioneered the search for treatments and cures for 50 years, and is dedicated to improving the lives of all children and adults affected by muscle disease.
It funds world-class research to find effective treatments and cures; provides free practical and emotional support; campaigns to raise awareness and bring about change and awards grants towards the cost of specialist equipment.
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£30m Swansea Health Investment ‘money well spent’
The £30m of public funding into the second phase of Swansea’s Institute of Life Science is money well spent, says Plaid AM Dr. Dai Lloyd.
Dr. Lloyd spoke as Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones and Health Minister Edwina Hart today unveiled the architect’s plans for the new state-of-the-art research centre.
The new seven-storey, 6,000 square metre building will include clinical research and play a major role in developing new products and services for the healthcare industry. It will triple the space available to grow related businesses.
The first phase of the Institute, which opened in 2007, boasts state-of-the-art laboratories researching areas such as cancer, obesity and diabetes.
The development is expected to create 650 jobs.
Dr. Lloyd stated:
“Swansea is fast developing a reputation for health research and this further investment by the One Wales Government will help cement that position.
“From an economic perspective Wales needs to develop our knowledge economy in areas such as research and technology and this investment is very welcome indeed.
“The creation of around 650 high-quality jobs will be a real boost to the Swansea area and as a result the initial £30m investment I’m sure will turn out to be money well spent in the long-run.
“I am very pleased that the One Wales Government is leading the way in terms of health research investment.”
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Notes:
The Welsh Assembly Government is providing £10million towards the cost of the research centre. The second phase of the Institute will also receive £12.8million from the European Regional Development Convergence Fund, £6.4million from Swansea University and land to the value of £1million from Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board.
Plaid AM welcomes Assembly powers report
Plaid AM Dr. Dai Lloyd has welcomed the report of the All Wales Convention which calls for the National Assembly for Wales to be given primary law-making powers.
Since starting work last July the 16-member Convention received more than 3,000 submissions and held meetings to gather evidence across Wales.
Research found 47 per cent of people would vote in favour of extra powers, while 37 per cent would vote against.
The Convention concludes that handing primary law-making powers to the Assembly in devolved fields would “provide greater clarity, be more consistent with the rule of law and democratic tradition, and reflect the emerging maturity of the National Assembly for Wales”.
Dr. Lloyd stated:
“It is very heartening to see that the Convention has found that the people of Wales see the need to improve our system of government, something that Plaid has been arguing for some time.
“This process has been very comprehensive and it is important that elected politicians listen to the Convention’s recommendations, which are based on the views of the people of Wales.
“We have seen time after time that the current system has prevented us in Wales from implementing our priorities – by blocking our efforts to ensure more affordable housing, by tying our hands as we tried to ensure that our children can travel safely on buses and by ignoring our attempt to legislate to tackle climate change.
“The Assembly must be given the tools to do the job. There are so many issues that need addressing in Wales, yet Wales’ directly elected Assembly is not able to deliver on them due to a lack of powers.”
Dr. Lloyd added:
“The people of Wales have said ‘enough is enough’ – we must have a democratic order which is transparent which ensures accountability, which is faster and which is understandable.
“If the Scottish people can be trusted to create their own laws, then why not the people of Wales?
“On the 7th July this year, every party in the Assembly agreed that it was necessary to hold a referendum before the Assembly elections in 2011 – there is a consensus amongst the Welsh political parties – the next step is fulfilling this.”
Plaid AM calls for Birchgrove Pavilion reprieve
Plaid AM Dr. Dai Lloyd has called on Swansea Council to protect a Birchgrove Pavilion.
The Heol Las Park Pavilion is facing being bulldozed and a report is to be presented to Swansea’s Cabinet on Thursday (Nov 19).
Dr. Lloyd has met with local residents, including the Birchgrove Community Association, and has now written to Council Chief Executive Paul Smith outlining their concerns.
Dr. Lloyd stated:
“The Birchgrove Community is clearly unhappy with the suggestion that their pavilion could be demolished. It has the potential to be a well-used resource for both cricket and football in the area.
“The protection of sports and recreational facilities are key if we are to try and encourage more and more people to take up sports and create a healthier Wales.
“I fully support the Birchgrove Community in their attempts to not only protect the pavilion, but to enhance and develop it in future years.
“Birchgrove’s population has risen dramatically over recent years, yet the investment in local facilities has not matched that increase. It is only right that Birchgrove receives a fair share of investment.
“I would urge Swansea Council’s Cabinet to protect the Pavilion. There are serious questions being raised with regards to the Council’s estimated cost for renovation of £163,000, with a third party claiming that it could be done for £69,000. It is vital that the Birchgrove Community Association, and interested parties generally, have an opportunity to try and find a way forward.”
Plaid AM hails charity’s 20th anniversary and calls for Children In Need donations
Plaid AM Dr. Dai Lloyd has called on people to fundraise and donate to this Friday’s “Children In Need” to help fund local charity work in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.
Dr. Lloyd was speaking following a visit to the Swansea-based Interplay scheme, based in Walter Road, which is a project to integrate young people with special needs into play and leisure opportunities in their community.
Dr. Lloyd stated:
“The Interplay scheme in Swansea is a wonderful charity which has benefitted directly over recent years from Children in Need funding, and will hopefully continue to do so in future years.
“It is this month celebrating its 20th anniversary of operating in Swansea having opened in November 1989. I must congratulate Interplay on this success and the wonderful work that they carry out.
“Public contributions during the annual Children In Need event directly benefit young people with special needs in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. I would urge everyone to either donate or consider carrying out their own fundraising event as part of the Children In Need week.”
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Notes:
Interplay is a registered charity based in Swansea, South Wales, UK serving both the county and city of Swansea and the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot.
Their work is with young people aged between 2 and 19 who have special needs. Interplay provides trained and experienced workers to support the process leading to inclusion of any young person referred. Referrals come from the statutory officers of Social and Education Services, through voluntary organisations and directly from parents, carers and the young people themselves.
Statement on Neurosurgical Services in South Wales
Here, Dr. Dai Lloyd AM sets out his response to the recent announcement on Neurosurgical Services in South Wales.
“The removal of Emergency Neurosurgery from Morriston Hospital to Cardiff is a huge disappointment to me personally.
This decision is not my favoured option – I want to see Emergency Treatment available in Morriston to cover the whole of Mid, South and West Wales.
As someone who has been campaign for a number of years to keep the Unit, and the Paediatric Neurosurgery service prior to that, in Swansea, I have been fortunate to have been joined in that campaign by a number of consultants at Morriston and Singleton Hospitals. We were also supported by the previous NHS Trust in opposing the transfer of Neurosurgery to Cardiff.
The reality is that this support no longer exists and that is disappointing. Neurosurgery consultants at Morriston and the current Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Health Board both support the transfer of emergency neurosurgery to Cardiff and that change in position is key.
Prior to the 2007 Assembly election, I forced a vote on the Assembly floor, which called for the retention of the Neurosurgery Unit, as it was, in Swansea. Plaid was the only party to unanimously support my motion. 22 Labour AMs, 5 Lib-Dems and 3 Conservatives voted against keeping the unit at Moirriston. This included both the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Health Spokespeople, who wanted to centralise everything in Cardiff.
This vote was key and gave those who wanted to centralise everything in the capital city a vital boost.
When Plaid came to power at the Assembly in 2007, the One Wales agreement stated that we would ‘review the NHS reconfiguration’ which Labour had embarked upon and also to ’revisit and revise proposals which reconfigure individual services through single site solutions’. In everyday language, the Minister Edwina Hart and myself as a local campaigner were keen to see the Morriston Neurosurgery unit protected.
When the Minister announced that she had appointed Dr. Alan Axford to lead an implementation team to bring about ‘one service on two sites’ I was confident that the strong local campaign over a number of years had succeeded.
What has happened since has undermined my position, and that of the Minister.
The shortage of junior doctors at Morriston Hospital over the summer has led to the acute emergency intra-cranial neurosurgery service already being transferred to Cardiff, due to fears over the safety and sustainability of the unit.
The second, and important point, is the support of consultants and all the Health Boards covering Mid, South and West Wales to transferring the emergency service to Cardiff indefinitely. No one should underestimate the weight of clinical opinion and support.
On a positive note, we have managed to increase spinal neurosurgery at Morriston with improved neurological services throughout South West Wales, as well as consolidating the position of the excellent Burns and Plastics unit at Morriston and securing Morriston’s designation as a level one trauma centre. Without the campaign, all neurosurgery would have been centralised in Cardiff, and this status lost.
This campaign was only ever about patient care, and in looking forward, with emergency neurosurgery now centralised in Cardiff, there are clearly implications for emergency admissions, including emergency GP admissions.
With this in mind I have already put to the Minister the vital need to regularly scrutinise and monitor the performance of the new emergency neurosurgical arrangements, in view of the huge concern engendered by this issue in Swansea and South West Wales over the last seven years.”
Figures show a need for system of presumed consent for organ donation
Plaid AM Dr. Dai Lloyd has today re-iterated his call for a system of presumed consent for organ donation in Wales.
His call comes following the release of figures which show that only 27% of UK residents are signed up to donate after death.
A poll of 1,500 people not on the organ donor register found 45% had good intentions to join but had not yet got round to it.
Dr. Dai Lloyd stated:
“We are seeing far too many people die in Wales due to a shortage of organ donors. This simply cannot be allowed to go on and I believe that these figures support my call for change.
“I have long argued for a system of presumed organ donation. This would mean that on death it would be assumed that an individual’s organs would be available for transplant, however close relatives would be consulted prior to any decision being taken.
“There are successful models of presumed consent in operation in countries such as Spain and Belgium where the number of organ donors are significantly higher than in Wales.”
Dr. Lloyd added:
“Quite simply, people are dying while on our NHS waiting lists. We have the opportunity to change that by simply changing our approach. There is no doubt that a system of presumed consent would produce a far higher potential donor rate than at present, which is far too low.”
“While hard-hitting campaigns have helped somewhat in increasing organ donor rates, it is not a long-term answer to the problem of lack of donors. We need a sustainable system, and a soft opt-out system of presumed consent is a way forward in this regard.
“Far too many families in Wales are watching a brother, sister, mother or father waiting for a life-saving transplant, when the answer is staring us in the face. We need more organ donors, and presumed consent is proven to work.”
Notes:
To sign up to be an organ donor see www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23
