2. 2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:16 pm on 21 March 2017.

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Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative 2:16, 21 March 2017

Leader of the house, can we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for health, please, on paediatric rheumatology services in Wales? Sadly, in Wales, we do not have any paediatric rheumatology services—dedicated services—and in particular we do not have any teams to help young people who are diagnosed with arthritis at very young ages, very often at school age, and this causes a huge amount of problems, not only just from the pain side of managing the pain of arthritis, but also the ability to engage fully in the education system and be able to support children going through the education system so that they can reach their full potential. I'm led to believe, through a meeting that I had yesterday, that many people are diverted into the centres that are located in England, of which there are 12. In Scotland, there are two, and, in Northern Ireland, with a much smaller population than Wales, there is one dedicated centre, whereas at the moment there is just merely a consultant service here in south Wales, which doesn't provide the full service that a team approach would develop, where—. If you look at the standards that should be in place, there should be a consultant, there should be two nurse specialists, one physiotherapist, and an occupational therapist, to help develop the services here in Wales. I'd be grateful if we could have a statement so we can see whether the Government has any intention to bring forward what I would say is this missing link in the provision of healthcare for young people who suffer the pain—the chronic pain—of arthritis and the help that they must require.