WELSH PARLIAMENT CONSIDERS PETITION CALLING FOR IMPROVED SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH AN ABI

A petition looking to 'ensure appropriate provision of services and support for people with an Acquired Brain Injury in Wales' is being considered by the Welsh Senedd.

Chaired by Jack Sargeant MS, the Petitions Committee heard evidence from the request submitted by Dr Claire Williams.

The petition, which received support from people across all parts of the UK, said: "There is an urgent need to review the provision of services and support for people with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) in Wales. There are currently no inpatient rehabilitation services for people with ABI in North Wales and there are just four inpatient beds for children and young people in Wales. Services need to be adequate and 'fit for purpose'. The time for change is now."

On hearing the details of the petition, Committee Member, Luke Fletcher MS, said: "I was wondering if the committee could agree to write back to Welsh Government in the first instance, to seek a response to the concerns and questions that have been raised by the petitioner regarding the quality and breadth of services and support provision for people in Wales. But I'd also be interested in writing to Betsi Cadwaladr health board as well to request an update regarding the provision of acquired brain injury and neurorehabilitation services in north Wales specifically."

This was agreed by the Petitions Committee.

You can review the session here

Dr Claire Williams, Associate Professor at Swansea University, said: “We are very grateful for the support already received from the Petitions Committee and it is absolutely vital that we continue to call on the Welsh Government to improve the provision of services and support for those with Acquired Brain Injury in Wales.

“We welcome the initial response received from Eluned Morgan AS/MS, Minister for Health and Social Services, which outlined existing efforts to deliver increased and more consistent provision of rehabilitation, reablement and recovery services in Wales.  However, and as outlined in our most recent letter to the Petitions Committee, the provision of support for people with Acquired Brain Injury extends beyond the Health and Social Services sector, and there is also a need to deliver a quicker pace of change going forward”.

The letter from Dr Claire Williams to the Petitions Committee can be viewed here and the response from Eluned Morgan AS/MS to the Chair of the Petitions Committee can be viewed here.

Chloe Hayward, Chief Executive of UK Acquired Brain Injury Forum, said: "The 2021 ‘Acquired Brain Injury and Neurorehabilitation in Wales: Time for Change’ report made key recommendations across five areas - Neurorehabilitation, Education, Criminal Justice, Sport-related Traumatic Brain Injury, and the Welfare Benefits System. Each area highlighted the urgent need for the provision of services and support for people with ABI in Wales to be reviewed.

"ABI is a hidden epidemic affecting many hundreds of thousands of people in Wales, and services need to be adequate and ‘fit for purpose’.

Please see our page on Acquired Brain Injury and Neurorehabilitation in Wales: Time for Change by following this link https://ukabif.org.uk/page/TFCWales