Sturgeon hopes disabled will get access to NHS voice aids
SPEECH synthesisers for disabled people who have lost their voice could be available on the NHS before the next Holyrood election, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has suggested.
Motor Neurone Disease (MND) patient and campaigner Gordon Aikman demonstrated a speech synthesiser to Ms Sturgeon at Holyrood and urged her government to make them more widely available.
Mr Aikman, who was diagnosed with the terminal condition last year and is now confined to a wheelchair, was given a British Empire Medal in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list for his campaigning.
Ms Sturgeon said: “We’re keen to make sure that equipment like this, which is a lifeline for many people who have lost their voice through conditions like MND, is available routinely on the NHS.
“This is fantastic technology and we need to make sure that how we are dealing with these things on the NHS keeps pace with that.
“We’re looking actively at this just now. We are working with MND Scotland, just like we did through the provision of increased specialist nursing capacity.”
Mr Aikman said: “With 80 to 90 per cent of people with MND experiencing some amount of voice loss before they die, what we are saying is let those people get their hands on the equipment they need to communicate. It’s time for Scotland to catch up with the rest of the UK.
“It doesn’t matter what the condition is, if you lose your voice you should get the equipment you need to have conversations, say the things that you had always planned, plan the end of your life, things like that.
“Imagine going through that process, being given a terminal diagnosis and not being able to speak, not being able to communicate with your doctors, your carers, your family.
“I am calling on the Scottish Government to change the law to make sure that nobody dies without a voice.”
Mr Aikman met the leaders of all five Holyrood parties and they have all agreed to work together to make the technology available on the NHS.