All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin

Please find following the letter requesting written evidence. We do hope that many of you will take the opportunity to be involved in the decision making at governmental level.

	XP At the Houses of Parliament
	Request for Written Evidence
	Submission Details
	Questions

Written Evidence Request ï¿½ The Psychological and Social Consequences of Skin Disease

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin is conducting an Enquiry into the Psychological and Social Consequences of Skin Disease. The principal aim of the enquiry is to evaluate the ways in which skin diseases affect peopleï¿½s lives.

The Group is keen to obtain a wide range of evidence from people with skin diseases, clinicians, parents, carers and others who wish to contribute.

Interested parties are invited to provide written submissions in response to the questions below. Please note that this letter is directed at a large and varied group of stakeholders. Please respond only to the areas that you feel able to address. The questions are quite broad and are intended to act as a guide, but the Group will be pleased to receive any information you think relevant to the Enquiry, as well as references to studies or statistical data.

Submissions

Submissions of no more than three sides of A4 should be sent by 1^st March 2003. The Group would prefer electronic submissions e-mailed to the Administrative Secretary: [email protected]

Hard copies can be sent to the Administrative Secretary at the following address:

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin

26 Cadogan Square

London SW1X 0JP

Questions

How does having a skin disease affect a personï¿½s day to day life ï¿½ i.e. work, leisure, schooling, relationships, life plans, etc.? What factors are important in maintaining a good quality of life?

How do skin diseases affect parents and/or carers? What are the time implications, social implications and cost implications of supporting a person with a skin disease?

What are the social & psychological effects of having a skin disease, particularly in relation to how society views skin diseases?

Do consultant dermatologists and/or general practitioners and nurses understand the psychological and social effects of having a skin disease? What kind of support should be expected from clinicians?

Are there adequate support services available for people with skin diseases? Are carers/ parents supported in any way?

If not, what services do you think should be available, or how could current support services be improved? Are there any fast-tracking systems in place for patients to access specialist services?

What are the main blocks to developing services in this area ï¿½ resources, other priorities, lack of awareness?

Are you aware of any reports of peer-reviewed research into the social, psychological or ï¿½quality of lifeï¿½ issues associated with skin diseases? If so, please will you provide copies (ideally electronically) or references?

Are there sufficient resources to conduct research into the psychological and social effects of skin disease?

What are your key concerns about the priority that is given to the quality of life implications of having a skin disease by clinicians and by those who develop Government health policy?

What more could the Government and other agencies do to support people with skin disease?

Your Name and Address:

Name
Address
Telephone
FAX
E-mail

If you complete the electronic form here it will send your submission to the XP Support group who will collate all the responses and send them in along with the XP Support groups views.

[email protected]

All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin

Written Evidence Request ï¿½ The Psychological and Social Consequences of Skin Disease

Submissions

Questions

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