August’s Consultation Responses

FTWW hosted focus groups and surveys for our members in order to coproduce our responses to Welsh Government’s Disabled People’s Rights Action Plan, and its Child Poverty Strategy.

As a Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO), it was vitally important that our members’ voices were heard as part of the Disabled People’s Rights Action Plan consultation, not least because many of our members are living with long-term and often chronic health issues that absolutely disable them – yet those around them may not ‘see’ them as disabled, something we need to see change to ensure their rights and ability to access appropriate support are respected.

We also responded to the Child Poverty Strategy consultation, in recognition of the fact that women are more likely to head up single parent families, be primary care givers, disabled / living with long-term health conditions, and receiving lower wages, increasing their risk of financial hardship.

Responding to the NICE Osteoporosis Quality Standard was also important to us; we spoke about the need for increased recognition of risks of developing the condition across multiple clinical specialties, for example gynaecology and rheumatology; women, especially those post-menopause or cancer treatment are much more at risk of osteoporosis than men, yet members often tell us that they weren’t informed of this. Another issue we have been discussing with NHS Wales is long waiting lists for DEXA scans, which measure bone density and can identify osteoporosis and fracture risks.

For the NHS Wales Review of Digital Psychological Therapies (such as Silvercloud) – we polled our members and the majority told us that they prefer to access psychological therapies in-person or in combination with online modules, partly due to concerns about confidentiality, lack of digital access, or because speaking to a ‘real’ person with clinical expertise when struggling with mental ill health can help them explain and manage issues better. Online or telephone access was helpful for those who found getting to in-person services difficult because of their impairments or symptoms, or other personal commitments. As with any service, we believe psychological therapies should be person centred and exercise shared decision making.