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Crohn's & Colitis UK hosted a Welsh Assembly event on Wednesday 6 December, to celebrate the inception of 'IBD Wales' - a new group made up of leading gastroenterologists, colorectal surgeons, clinical nurse specialists, dietitians and patients to drive up standards of care in Wales.
New group to drive up standards for IBD care in Wales
The event was extremely well attended with an impressive 15 Assembly Members (AM’s) turning up to the event - a quarter of all AM’s.
Sponsored by Dr Dai Lloyd AM, Chair of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, the event announced that IBD Wales will have a strategic role in supporting teams in the Health Boards to identify and address specific parts of services that need to be improved.
Led by Crohn’s & Colitis UK and in collaboration with the Welsh Association for Gastroenterology and Endoscopy (WAGE), IBD Wales will champion improvements to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) services for the 15,000 people that are living with this life long and incurable disease in Wales.
People with IBD use and rely on gastroenterological services in Wales, with the condition primarily managed in secondary care. While standards of treatment and care for people with Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis in Wales have improved in recent years, they still fall behind the average for the rest of the UK.
IBD Wales will be looking at standards of care in early diagnosis and treatment as well as the on-going management of children and adult patients, which includes periods in which the disease flares up and symptoms become severe.
One of the first areas that the group will look at will be examining the role of IBD nurses and the quantity of patient access to specialist nurse support across Wales.
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Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease have the right to timely access to the services and support they need to help them manage what is a chronic illness with often significant flare-ups. The newly formed IBD Wales will act as a catalyst to ensure service improvements across Wales.
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The creation of this new group is a pivotal moment for IBD services across Wales and the thousands of people and their families affected by these devastating conditions. IBD Wales - which brings a multitude of experience and expertise- will be a focal point for driving change collaboratively putting the patient voice at the centre of the programme. We very much look forward to working with health service providers and policy makers to realise our vision of high quality and accessible IBD care.
Pictured above (left to right), Professor Jaren Torkington (President of WAGE), Dr Dai Lloyd AM (Chair of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee), Rachel Owen (patient) and David Barker (CEO of Crohn's & Colitis UK)
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