Sodium Valproate

Baroness Hollins Excerpts

Monday 5th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

My understanding from speaking to Minister Caulfield on exactly this subject this morning is that she has recently spoken to the Patient Safety Commissioner, who is happy that she has the resource that she now requires to do this part of the study.

[Baroness Hollins (CB)]

My Lords, I note that the damage caused by sodium valproate happens during the first trimester, when many women do not realise they are pregnant for a while, and, despite attempts to plan pregnancy, many pregnancies are unplanned. It is one thing to say that it is the woman’s knowledge, understanding and consent, but what about the long-term care of children who are born with damage caused by sodium valproate? What measures are being taken to attend particularly to the needs of this group?

[Lord Markham (Con)]

The noble Baroness is correct that unfortunately there will always be some cases. Dr Charlie Fairhurst has been advising the Government on how best to create the care pathways so we can make sure that we are catering for the children in this scenario. How it manifests itself, as I am sure the noble Baroness understands, is in things such as increased autism or cystic fibrosis, for which we have existing patient pathways for treatment. We must make sure that these children can get quick and easy access to those treatment pathways.