To ask the Minister of Health to detail the intensive physiotherapy options that exist in (i) Northern Ireland; and (ii) elsewhere for young patients suffering from conditions such as cerebral palsy, with the aim of enabling them to walk.

Paediatric Physiotherapy services are available through our local Health and Social Care Trusts (HSCTs) to all such children in Northern Ireland who require assistance to enable them to walk.

Regardless of their presenting condition, these children will have a personalized treatment plan developed to address their specific needs. Plans are created in partnership with the child and their parents or carers, and to achieve the desired outcomes, may require input from other professionals such as Orthotists or Occupational Therapists. The intensity of the service provided will be determined firstly by the initial assessment and then by the progress that the child makes at follow up appointments.

If the desired outcomes are not achieved despite these interventions, where appropriate, the child can be referred on for further interventions which could include Orthopaedic or Neuro surgery.

The Neuro surgery, specifically any requirement for a Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy - an operation used to reduce spasticity (muscle stiffness) in cerebral palsy - would be performed in Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool, with follow up care provided back in Northern Ireland as part of a revised treatment plan.