The Welsh Parliament Health and Social Care Committee have published a new report, ‘Supporting people with chronic conditions’. Kidney Care UK submitted evidence to the report highlighting the challenges that people with kidney disease face.
We made a number of recommendations, including regular testing of people at greatest risk of CKD, better emotional and psychological support, and measures to reduce some of the financial burden that some people can experience as a result of CKD.
Our evidence highlighting groups particularly at risk from CKD was quoted in the Committee’s report:
We heard that certain conditions are more prevalent in people from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups, for example Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), sickle cell and Lupus. According to Kidney Care UK: “Black, Asian and other minority ethnic communities are five times more likely to develop CKD, representing an unmet need that leads to a disproportionate number from these groups being represented on the transplant waiting list and waiting longer for a transplant.”
We were also pleased that the Committee addressed some of our concerns in its recommendations. It called on the Welsh government to work with partners to address broader issues beyond health for people with chronic conditions, including housing, debt, and employment.
The report also focused on mental health support for people with a chronic condition, recommending that all staff working with people with chronic condition should receive training in mental health support and, at diagnosis, patients should be signposted to sources of support.
The Health and Social Care Committee was set up to hold the Welsh government to account on specific issues, and the government have a duty to respond to these recommendations and report back to the Committee on their work. However, Russell George, Montgomeryshire Member of the Senedd (MS), highlighted that improving care for people with chronic conditions is no easy task:
Whilst the long-term focus must be on prevention, both to stop chronic conditions developing and to slow their progression, we need to ensure that people currently living with chronic conditions are being properly supported and are receiving the services they need to manage their care. We have made a number of recommendations to try and improve the situation for people living with chronic conditions but ultimately there are long standing, systemic issues with the way health services are currently funded and delivered that need to be resolved before a truly person-centred approach to healthcare can be achieved.
We look forward to working with the Welsh government on the issues raised on behalf of people with kidney disease.