North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has today asked the Welsh Government whether a three year wait for treatment for chronic pain is acceptable after being contacted by a constituent who has been told this is how long they will have to wait.
Calling for a Welsh Government Statement on the pain management service in North Wales during the Business Statement in this afternoon’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood raised the case of a patient who has already been waiting 12 months for treatment and has now been told that the waiting time to be seen is a further two years.
Speaking in the Senedd Chamber, Mr Isherwood said:
“After the Countess of Chester Hospital told me that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was repatriating Pain Management Services for people in North-East Flintshire to Wrexham Maelor Hospital, with a consequent explosion in waiting times, the then Health Minister, Mark Drakeford, told me that it was a matter for the Health Board and otherwise did nothing.
“Only yesterday a constituent living in Hawarden, suffering with chronic pain, e-mailed after the team dealing with bookings for the pain management clinic at Wrexham Maelor informed him that he would have to wait another two years before he would get an appointment, meaning he will have to wait three years in total. He asked ‘What steps you are taking to hold them to account and bring about significant improvement, or do you consider a three-year wait for treatment acceptable?’.
“I therefore put that question to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, and call for a Statement from that Cabinet Secretary on this matter.
In her response, the Trefnydd, Jane Hutt MS, told Mr Isherwood she would raise the matter with the Cabinet Secretary, and also the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales.