Project to raise awareness of JIA in Wales

01 August 2017

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Project to raise awareness of JIA in Wales

NRAS has been working on a project to raise awareness of JIA in Wales and to campaign for a fully-dedicated multi-disciplinary paediatric rheumatology service in South Wales.

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Wales is currently the only home nation without a full service for children with arthritis, and therefore children are having to travel for hours to Bristol, Birmingham and beyond to access essential services. It takes a huge toll on children travelling for so long with the pain experienced and the number of missed days at school.

NRAS held a drop-in session at the Welsh Assembly on 28 June which was attended by around 25 Assembly Members (AMs). We managed to secure a debate in the Plenary Session of the Welsh Assembly to ask the Welsh Government to support our calls for the creation of a full service. The Welsh Government abstained from the vote and 27 other AMs voted for the motion. Therefore, the motion was passed, and this will put added pressure on the Welsh Government to implement the service for children in South Wales with JIA.

NRAS is continuing its work behind the scenes to support a review by the Welsh Health Specialist Service Committee (WHSSC) to assess current provision in South Wales and to make recommendations to the Government. The added political pressure as a result of the debate will help us as we work with WHSSC on the review.”

Contact Information

To speak with someone please contact the NRAS press office at media@nras.org.uk