North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has today given his full and strong support to a Motion calling for the Welsh Government to ‘support measures to reduce current waiting times for patients and service users accessing Epilepsy services’.
The Motion also called for the Welsh Government to ‘support health professionals in Wales, by ensuring the levels of staffing across the Health Boards of Wales are appropriately resourced to achieve and maintain sustainability, patient safety, and quality of service’.
Speaking in the Debate, Mr Isherwood said:
“I fully and strongly support this Motion. I was pleased to add my name to the list of supporters, but it does feel a bit like Groundhog Day. In 2016 and again in 2017, speaking in the Senedd, I said that some areas of Wales do not have access to Epilepsy services, such as Epilepsy Nurses, advocacy or training services, including specialist health or education provision.
“I said that parents of children with Epilepsy and complex needs find it more difficult to access appropriate education for their child, and are more likely to have difficulties with transport, medical supervision, delivery of first aid, or medication than other families. I also noted that adults with Epilepsy and complex needs find difficulty getting services that meet their needs.
“Speaking at Epilepsy Wales’s 2019 Epilepsy Awareness event in the Senedd, I noted that 40 per cent of overall deaths, and 59 per cent of child deaths, as a direct result of Epilepsy could potentially be avoided through better management of the condition. Four years on, Epilepsy Action Cymru state that ‘the number of Epilepsy Specialist Nurses in Wales is woefully short’. Surely the time has come to turn well-meaning words into real action.”