Welsh MS patients face six-hour England care trips

People with multiple sclerosis in Wales can face six-hour round trips for specialist care, an MS charity has warned.

Research for the MS Society Cymru found a shortage of specialist NHS staff is leading to long waits for treatment.

Nearly 7,000 people in Wales live with MS, which affects the central nervous system and can cause symptoms including blurred vision and mobility problems.

The Welsh government said it “plans to ensure people with long-term conditions like MS are treated closer to home”.

"Because you're having to make that extra effort to travel in the car for a couple of hours, that does affect the condition," said Eirlys Ryder, 70, from Rhosmeirch on Anglesey, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 17 years ago.

Her specialist is based in Liverpool, but she meets them halfway, driving an hour to Glan Clwyd hospital in Denbighshire.

"It does affect the way you are on that day, and for maybe a week or so after," says Ryder.

"So it's not just on that day that you might feel it can affect you for days after."

The latest research by the MS Society Cymru suggests her experience is not unusual.

It found north Wales has the lowest number of available MS consultants, with some patients facing six-hour round trips to obtain specialist care, while MS nurses had caseloads 30% above recommended levels.

Ian Simpson, from MS Society Cymru, called it a “postcode lottery”.

"There are significant health inequalities depending on where you are in Wales - north-south and east-west, rural or urban, and we think that's unacceptable," he said.

"People should be able to access the same level of care wherever they are in Wales."

The Welsh government said it wants "to improve access to rehabilitation and tailored multi-disciplinary support" and is working to ensure that patients are "supported to live their best lives".

But campaigners like Stuart Nixon from Newport, who has MS, say major investment is needed to address staff shortages.

"What we've got to see is the current government actually implement what they are suggesting we need," he said.

"Come and ask me - I know what it's about," he said.

"People with lived experience can really tell you what we need to do."

MS is a disease of the brain and central nervous system, in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the fatty myelin sheath that normally protects the nerves, like insulation around electric wires.

As that protection is gnawed away, the nerves stop being able to send the signals that help people walk, talk, and think clearly, or use their hands normally.

Multiple sclerosis patients in Wales are calling for urgent improvements to enable them access to the best possible care.