I sponsored and spoke at the launch of ‘a Cerebral Palsy Register For Wales’. Accessing services can be patchy, partly because it is not known where people with cerebral palsy live and what their specific different needs are. Although the Register is not a quick fix, it is a strategic answer to help make long term sustainable changes in service provision.
Speaking in the Debate on the Assembly Petition ‘All men in Wales should have access through the NHS to the best possible diagnostic tests for prostate cancer’, I said that last March's announcement by NHS England that it was launching a one-stop service using MRI techniques to revolutionise prostate cancer treatment was a game changer and that patients across Wales should not be left behind. Wrexham Maelor Hospital's urology unit was one of 11 units across England and Wales that took part in the prostate MRI imaging study ‘PROMIS’ trial to discover improved ways of diagnosing prostate cancer. Although NICE has now backed mpMRI scans as a cost effective first-line investigation, a constituent had recently received a letter from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board stating “although current clinical advice suggests that the use of full diagnostic mpMRI may be beneficial … this has not yet been supported by NICE”.
Questioning the Welsh Government about Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s announcement that emergency vascular surgery and inpatient care will be centralised at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, where the Health Board had previously stated these services would remain in the three North Wales District General Hospitals, I asked whether an impact assessment had been considered to establish actual population needs.
Questioning the Counsel General, I asked how the Welsh Government is monitoring Local Authority understanding and implementation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act, where I routinely represent constituents to Local Authorities on disability issues, but “The Equality Act and the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act are never mentioned until I mention them”.
I hosted the relaunch of the Cross Party Group on Beer and Pubs, met two Palestinian Christians visiting the Senedd, caught up with Fair Trade Wales, discussed nursing in care homes with a Nurse from North Wales, and attended the St David's International Reception with the Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda.
In North Wales, I spent a night in the cells when I took part in the Tenovus ‘Prison Lock Up’ in Mold Police Station to raise funds for cancer patients and their families.
If you need my help, please email [email protected] or call 0300 200 7219.
