Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 3:09 pm on 19 September 2018.
Indeed. I agree entirely. Can I commend the work of the new merged organisation—I'm sure it will do very good work in campaigning and policy development as well—but also, Dr Jeremy Camilleri, who will be moving on at some time in the near future? He's made his intentions clear, but it would be worth saying that, because of the advance notice that we have had, the health board is going to work closely now with the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee and other partners to ensure that we do have the delivery of a sustainable service.
David, you asked me about where we are with progress on the updating of the service development and commissioning directive, first published way back in 2007. Now, this review will consider a range of arthritis and musculoskeletal pain, including juvenile arthritic conditions, and we'll make sure that this refresh takes into account the recommendations that have been made by the British Society for Rheumatology and the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society report, which was published only at the end of 2016.
So, our aim is—. And I say this as somebody who actually has lived for many years with a condition of ankylosing spondylitis, since I was a young man, so I'm a living, walking, breathing example of somebody who's had the right diagnosis, the right treatment, the right physiotherapy and allied professionals. I challenge anybody to walk up the highest mountain peaks with me now, whereas at one time I could hardly walk down the corridor. But that is the aim: to focus on helping people of all ages, including children and young people, to develop the skills to enable them to manage their conditions, and, where appropriate, increase their ability to stay and work and live the lives they want to live.
So, we've set the steering group up, chaired by Alun Morgan, the deputy director of therapies for Cardiff and Vale university health board. He's overseeing the work. He's brought together clinical experts in various fields, including arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions, as well as third sector bodies and, importantly, like me, patient representatives. So, the outline document has been drafted. Group members are in the process now of populating it with information from their specific areas of expertise. So, we're currently scoping demand for the service. We're carrying out a workshop in October to establish preferred models going forward, and we hope to bring it forward, then, in the autumn, to consider that and present our items for prioritisation. So, the work is well in hand, and I thank him for raising this important matter.