Meetings

The Committee considered further correspondence and an announcement made by the Welsh Government on 29 October 2019 that a fund to provide specialist sports prosthetics for children and young people will be introduced from April 2020. The Committee agreed to close the petition in light of this and to write to the petitioner to congratulate them on the success of the petition.

The Committee considered further correspondence and agreed to write to the Minister to request an update on:

·         the progress made in relation to a business case for developing a service to provide specialist sports prostheses for children; and

·         the consideration given to providing a copy of the business case to the Committee

The Committee considered further correspondence on the petition and agreed to write back to the Minister for Health and Social Services to ask:

·         for an update about his intentions in relation to the future availability of sports prosthetics,

·         for his anticipated timescales for considering a full business case on this issue and to request a copy of the business case once it has been produced; and

·         whether the Welsh Government is aware of, or has supported, research into the development or suitability of 3D printing for this purpose.

Mike Hedges declared the following relevant interest under Standing Order 17.24A:

A company in his constituency makes prosthetic limbs by 3D printing.

The Committee considered a response from Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC) together with further comments from the petitioner and agreed to:

• write back to the WHSSC to:

o   ask for further details of the review of the Prosthetic and Amputee Rehabilitation Services specification, including the process, timescales and a list of the stakeholders it intends to consult; and

o   seek a full reasoning behind the limitations within the current Prosthetic and Amputee Rehabilitation Services specification for recreational lower limbs; and

• write to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services to ask:

o   for consideration to be given by the Welsh Government to making specific funding available for children to be able to access specialised sports prostheses; and

o   what barriers there are to using 3D printing for the production of prostheses.

The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC) to seek further detail about the current policy for providing prosthetic services and ask:

·         why there appears to be a distinction made between upper and lower limbs;

·         the volume of applications received for recreational lower limb prosthetics under the IPFR process, and an indication of the proportion which are approved;

·         for details on the average additional cost associated with providing a recreational lower limb prosthetic to a child or young person; and

·         what use is currently made, or could be made in the future, of 3D-printing for the production of prosthetics.