Health board bosses in Gwent have been urged not to remove funding for specialist cerebral palsy therapy services amid fears it will create an unacceptable postcode lottery.
Natasha Asghar MS has called on senior leaders at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board not to axe the vital support as the organisation reviews its Service Level Agreement with Cerebral Palsy Cymru.
The Newport and Islwyn politician has been contacted by concerned families from across the constituency who are facing deep uncertainty.
Natasha Asghar MS said:
“While other health boards across Wales—including Cwm Taf Morgannwg, Swansea Bay, and Hywel Dda—continue to secure access to this highly specialist intervention, children in my constituency risk being left behind.
Local NHS therapy teams perform vital work, but they lack the specific, advanced training, experience and clinical capacity required to replicate the specialised care provided by Cerebral Palsy Cymru.
“Withdrawing this contract creates an unacceptable postcode lottery and also threatens early intervention programmes that have provided crucial early-years support to 79 babies in the Aneurin Bevan area at zero cost to the NHS or Welsh Government.
“Disabled children are among the most vulnerable members of our society, and we should be expanding, not slashing, the support available to them.”
One worried parent from Newport, who wants to remain anonymous added:
“Our daughter would not have been able to have achieved the milestones she has achieved without the early intervention she received from Cerebral Palsy Cymru through the years.
“The multidisciplinary approach meant that all her needs were addressed in a holistic way - we have learned so much from them as they truly understand her condition, which is what you want as a parent thrown into a new world that you have little knowledge on.
“To cut this service would be devastating and cruel to so many families, exactly at the moment when they need more support, not less.”
As well as writing to the Chief Executive of the Health Board, Natasha this week raised the issue in the Welsh Parliament.
She called on the Welsh Government to intervene in a bid to protect services. The Government’s Chief Whip, Heledd Fychan MS swerved the call for intervention, instead insisting it was a health board decision.
