The Autumn meeting of Muscular Dystrophy`s South East Coast "Muscle Group", held at Strode Park at the weekend, has led North Thanet/ Bay MP Roger Gale to table parliamentary questions challenging the lack of provision for Muscular Dystrophy in the South East region. The MP, who attended the meeting as a guest, said:

 

"Other Health Authority regions provide care advisors for those with muscular dystrophy: my understanding is that the South East provides none.  In our region patients are lucky enough to receive one physiotherapy session every three months, which is clearly inadequate, because there is a shortage of specialist neuro-muscular physiotherapists.  Hydrotherapy facilities are unavailable or unused due to a lack of supervisory staff and the NHS wheelchair service is, as I have said in the past, sub-standard.  Asking a patient to use an ill-fitting wheelchair is like telling a man with size 10 feet that he can only have size 8 shoes!

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I want to tease out answers to establish why the South East Regional Health Authority has not addressed these issues.
 
The meeting was well attended by MD sufferers and their carers and families from across the South East of England. Present from North Thanet were  Mark and Sue Bishop and Margaret and Keith Walker from Herne Bay and Paulette and Ian King from Margate."