Eleanor Burnham AM

Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for North Wales : Aelod o'r Cynulliad Gogledd Cymru

Neurosurgery for North Wales patients needs to be closer to home - Burnham

9.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 20th Jul 2007

Eleanor Burnham, Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for North Wales, has written an urgent letter to Health Minister Edwina Hart concerning the fears of healthcare professionals that plans for elective neurosurgery for patients in North Wales are unsuitable.

In a statement in Plenary on July 4th, the minister announced future plans to focus all elective adult neurosurgery to take place in Swansea and Cardiff. However doctors in North Wales have contacted Ms Burnham stating that expecting patients across the region to travel to South Wales when treatment is available at centers such as Liverpool is 'utterly ludicrous'.

Ms Burnham said: "Securing healthcare treatment as close to home as possible is one of the important factors in the wellbeing and care of patients wherever they live. Causing as little disruption as possible to patients and their visiting families at often difficult times in their lives should be a consideration in any plans to provide all-Wales health services.

"Patients in North Wales often face difficulty accessing the best healthcare as close to home as possible, as specialist units are frequently focused around Cardiff or Swansea. While I broadly support the minister's ambition to raise the bar for in-Wales health services, it simply doesn't make sense to send patients in North Wales, who could easily access the same specialist services in Liverpool, all the way down to centers in South Wales.

"The doctors and professionals who have been in touch with me have highlighted this issue. Their opinion of the minister's plans are that it would be 'utterly ludicrous' to send not just patients, but also their visiting relatives, up and down the country if the treatments are available nearby, albeit across the border in England.

"I will be interested to hear the Minster's response to my letter, as this issue is clearly of great importance to both clinical healthcare professionals and members of the public throughout my region."

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Previous news story: Letter to Daily Post and Western Mail (Mon 2nd Jul 2007).
Next news story: WAG Committee seeks public views on proposed legislation on Additional Learning Needs (Wed 25th Jul 2007).

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