Following last week’s launch of a Cerebral Palsy Register for Wales, North Wales Assembly Member, Mark Isherwood, has asked the Health Minister what action he will be taking to support the Register.
Speaking in the Chamber yesterday, Mr Isherwood, who hosted the launch of the Register in the Senedd, highlighted the benefits of the Register before asking how the Welsh Government will be supporting the initiative.
He said:
“Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting the Cerebral Palsy Register for Wales launch event in the Senedd. The Register, which will be the first National Register in Great Britain, will record symptoms, assessments and ongoing care for people living with cerebral palsy, collected by health professionals and stored anonymously on NHS systems.
“This could then be used to make long-term sustainable changes in service provision, making a real clinical difference, with better understanding of the population of people who have cerebral palsy and an ability to plan for the right services in the right place.
The Register will initially start as a pilot in Powys, before being rolled out across Wales. But it's currently dependent on charitable funding, and the Register's creators have said that it will need to be fully integrated into NHS Wales to ensure its survival. Given that the Welsh Government – yourself - has said that you are supportive of the initiative, and that's been greatly welcomed, what action can you outline about the assistance that you propose to provide to support the Register as this moves forward?”
In his response, the Minister, Vaughan Gething AM, said:
“As we learn more about the project that is starting in Powys, we'll then have an understanding not only of the benefit, to make sure it's actually properly integrated in the way we want to deliver health and care, but then the choices, if we're going to then roll that out successfully across Wales. So,we'll have more information, and we'll then have a responsibility to make choices about if and how we'll see that rolled out across the country”.
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