Haverfordwest family start fundraising for cranial remoulding treatment

10:43am Wednesday 3rd December 2008

A family from Haverfordwest have hit out at the lack of NHS funding to treat a condition caused by lying babies on their backs.

Deformational plagiocephaly or flat head syndrome is quite common in babies but the Morgan family were angry after being told they would have to fund any treatment themselves.

Nine-month-old Lewis Morgan suffers from the condition, which has caused the back of his head to become flattened but the treatment available, a cranial remoulding helmet, costs nearly £2,000.

His mother, Sachalea and grandmother Toni are now fundraising to help pay for the treatment but are angry that it is not available on the NHS.

Toni said: “The condition is caused from lying on his back and it is only recognised as a cosmetic thing but they can’t guarantee later in life whether it will cause him any problems.

“I know that the instances of cot death have gone down since they introduced sleeping babies on their backs but if it is causing other problems there should be more help.”

The family have paid the initial deposit of £500 so that Lewis could get his helmet as soon as possible and are now trying to raise the rest.

“We are hoping to start fundraising this month and then keep it going because there are lots of other people that are affected” said Toni.

Sachalea added: “It is important for him to wear this helmet because I don’t know if the condition will cause him damage and even if it doesn’t when he goes to school he could get bullied about it.”

A spokesman from the Hywel Dda NHS Trust said: "Due to patient confidentiality, we cannot comment on individual cases.

"Plagiocephaly does not result in development delay or harmful symptoms and in most cases the shape of the head returns to normal without any treatment. For this reason, use of specialist helmets for the treatment of plagiocephaly is not routinely funded by the NHS.

"However, should any patients or carers have concerns about their treatment, we would urge them to contact their clinician so that the matter can be discussed directly with them."

The Morgan family are holding a charity quiz night with a raffle at the Red Roses in Pembroke Dock on Monday, December 8th at 7pm to kick start their fundraising efforts.

Landlords Denise and Richard Harrild are also holding a Prize Bingo on Sunday, December 21st at the pub for Lewis.