What funding does the Welsh Government provide to local health boards to support them to provide specialist services for people living with neurodegenerative conditions such as motor neurone disease?
The funding of networks and service provision is a commissioning and planning issue for Health Boards based on their populations needs. I would expect this to be done collaboratively alongside relevant partners, such as the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA).
Work is underway as part of the National Clinical Framework and NHS Executive to develop a number of proposed strategic and operational delivery networks. It is important that existing networks are considered in the context of that work, and I have asked my officials to look into this further and contact the MNDA accordingly.
On the matter of psychological services, we work closely with the Neurological Conditions Implementation Group (NCIG) who support Health Boards to drive improvements in services for people with neurological conditions. The NCIG has recognised that access to psychological support is not what it should be for people with neurological conditions, as with many other acute and chronic conditions. As such, the NCIG has prioritised improving psychological support as an area of focus.
In collaboration with the Stroke Implementation Group, the NCIG has established a Psychological Support Group to identify ways to address access to psychological support, linking with the national work to improve Adult Community Mental Health Services in Wales[1]. This group is comprised of members from all Health Boards, Public Health Wales, Health Education Improvement Cymru, academia and the third sector, including the MND Association.
[1] https://collaborative.nhs.wales/networks/wales-mental-health-network/adult-mental-health/adult-community-mental-health-services-in-wales-our-vision-for-the-future/