Special debate on Tourette’s syndrome

Tourette’s syndrome was the main theme of a special parliamentary debate in the Welsh Senedd recently.

This followed a public petition by Helen Reeves-Graham, supported by RCPsych in Wales, that looked to bring the condition to the public fore.

During the debate, several politicians referred to the College’s briefing on the subject, which highlighted why there should be more education on the misconceptions of the condition.

The College would also like to see a clear pathway for Tourette’s in Wales. This would include a service involving a mix of medical professionals for assessing, diagnosing and managing a patient’s condition.

As part of the awareness campaign, Dr Amani Hassan also featured in an opinion piece in The National – a leading Welsh news publication.

In the thought piece, Dr Hassan explained what Tourette’s is and why the now old-fashioned misconceptions around it, must be banished.

And as well as the debate on Tourette’s, RCPsych in Wales also took part in another Senedd debate on Autism and neurodiversity.

This time, the briefing was led by Professor Alka Ahuja and Dr Harriet Slater. Again, several prominent ministers mentioned the College, including Hefin David MS.

The College now awaits the imminent findings from a Demand and Capacity review.

This will see the Welsh government plough funding into support for neurodevelopmental services to identify gaps in provision and raise patient awareness of what is accessible to them.

Back to 9 June 2022 Members' update.