North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has this week challenged the Welsh Government over its action to provide pulmonary rehabilitation for Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) patients.
Mr Isherwood raised the matter during yesterday’s Business Statement.
He said:
“I call for a Statement on access to pulmonary rehabilitation for Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) patients. Last week was IPF or Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Week, and, according to the British Lung Foundation, pulmonary fibrosis is a type of interstitial lung disease.
“Pulmonary rehabilitation is often focused on other conditions such as COPD - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - due to its prevalence with over 70,000 people in Wales - or 2.3 per cent of the population - affected. But there's a growing body of evidence that tailored pulmonary rehabilitation provision for ILD can contribute significantly to improved quality of life in accordance with NICE guidelines.
“Last week, the Health Secretary wrote to me that the Respiratory Health Delivery Plan for Wales, which was updated and published in January, includes a national work stream for Interstitial Lung Disease and the establishment of regional specialist teams to support local care. Therefore, I call for a Statement detailing what progress, if any, there has been in actually developing a Pulmonary Rehabilitation Pathway for ILD patients and when the Welsh Government expects that to be in place.”
Responding, the Leader of the House said: “The Member indicates he's already in correspondence with the Cabinet Secretary, and he's pointed out himself that the Respiratory Health Plan recognises the importance of timely and expert care, and that the national plan includes a work stream to improve ILD care across Wales, and that the NHS in Wales has established the two specialist services to support the local management of conditions. I'm not sure, at this point, the Government has much to add to that in a Statement. The Member obviously will have opportunities to question the Cabinet Secretary further on that in due course.”
Mr Isherwood added: “We already know about the 8-month old Plan and the Work Stream, but the failure to provide detail and timescales raises fears that the Welsh Government is kicking yet another issue into the long grass. I hope they prove me wrong.”
ENDS