Farron presses Primary Care Trust on specialist nurses

3.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 2nd Oct 2007

Local MP Tim Farron will attend a meeting with Primary Care Trust representatives about providing a specialist service for sufferers of Lymphoedema, a disease which affects thousands of people. At present there is a barely adequate service in South Cumbria for cancer sufferers who have the condition, and no NHS service at all for people with the condition who do not have cancer (who make up roughly three-quarters of sufferers).

Tim met with senior PCT representatives, including the Deputy Directory of Public Health, and described the meeting as 'amicable and productive'. The PCT representatives said that the intervention of Tim and a senior private specialist nurse in the region had helped to raise the issue to the top of the agenda, and that the PCT will work to find both short and long term solutions.

After the meeting, Tim said:

"Left untreated, even a minor case of Lymphoedema can escalate into a serious case relatively quickly. It is important that provision is made in South Cumbria for people to be treated for this condition.

"After meeting with PCT representatives I am hopeful that we are moving towards a solution, Lymphoedema is a debilitating but treatable condition and people living with it deserve the best possible care to make sure it doesn't become severe."