Written question WQ88296

We set out our vision for improving outcomes for all people of all ages with a neurological condition in the Neurological Conditions Quality Statement published in November 2022 and we have also taken action in a number of ways as set out below.

Recognising the gap in community service provision for many people with conditions such as FND, we have invested a total of £13.3m to support an increase in and widen access to community-based care, and preventative and early intervention services.

In January this year, I also announced £5m to increase the number of allied health professionals working in primary and community services and in March, I announced an increase in funding for Adferiad (Recovery) services from £5m to £8.3m. This investment can be used by health boards to increase community rehabilitation and community-based therapy.

Self-help and supported self-help strategies can be particularly helpful to people affected by conditions such as FND, enabling them to manage their symptoms alongside other treatment available for specific symptoms, for example, pain. This additional funding will enable Health Boards to significantly expand capacity in recovery and rehabilitation services.

In addition, we published the All Wales Rehabilitation Framework in October 2022 to help services better understand the increasing demand for rehabilitation, reablement and recovery throughout health and social care services. Health boards, local authority and third sector partners are using the Framework to plan rehabilitation services to respond to the needs of their populations.

The Framework is supported by a Rehabilitation service modelling resource which services are encouraged to use to provide data on demand and capacity for rehabilitation. It is also supported by a Rehabilitation service evaluation framework, which should be used to gather data on the effectiveness of rehabilitation services across Wales.

We now expect the Health Boards to utilise this funding in line with the expectations we have set out in the Neurological Conditions Quality Statement and All Wales Rehabilitation Framework. We also expect to see Directors of Therapies and Health Science and Health Board Directors of Primary and Community Care working together to develop and embed these services as part of the Pan Cluster Planning Groups under the Accelerated Cluster Development programme.