Speaking in the Welsh Parliament today, North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to ensure that health service provision for all life-threatening conditions, not just Covid, is prioritised in the months ahead.
Responding to the Statement by the First Minister on ‘Health Protection Measures Post Firebreak’, Mr Isherwood said the health of people with epilepsy, asthma, cancer and other serious conditions is being put at risk because of the focus on Covid, and called for services for all life-threatening conditions to resume.
He said:
“Epilepsy Wales state ‘There is currently no epilepsy surgery for children or adults in Wales and there hasn’t been for the last 7 months.
“Can the First Minister tell us when this will change so that essential surgery can be provided to a highly vulnerable population of people with epilepsy, who are living with uncontrolled seizures, with all the associated risks to health and life…where Most other specialist centres across the UK have resumed essential epilepsy surgery for their patients with drug resistant epilepsy.’
“Last month, Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation Wales published a Report on Restoring Basic Care. 70% of their beneficiaries are managing an exacerbation of their symptoms - such as asthma attack - themselves, over 40% report that their respiratory care has either been delayed or cancelled during the lockdown – and nearly a quarter are avoiding the NHS altogether, meaning that they are no longer managing their condition.
“As we now approach winter, when historic referral rates for lung disease admissions increase by 80%, what actions will you now take based on the recommendations from the report to restore better access to basic care for thousands with a lung condition across Wales?’
He added: “Last week Macmillan Cancer Support launched their new report ‘The Forgotten ‘C’? The impact of Covid-19 on cancer care’, which detailed the diagnostic and treatment backlog that has developed.
“How do you therefore respond to the report’s statement that the Welsh Government must prioritise and ringfence cancer services during the second wave of the pandemic?”
In his response, the First Minister stated “The general answer to all his enquiries has to be this, hasn't it: that our ability to go on resuming activity in the Welsh NHS other than coronavirus is entirely contingent upon the extent to which we are able to turn back the tide of coronavirus itself”.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Isherwood said: “The questions I raised are critically important and Mr Drakeford must stop dodging them in this way. Health service provision in Wales should not be a trade-off between Covid-19 and other life-threatening conditions”.