Local authority continues to put profit before health

I have some serious concerns to share on here about the conduct of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, in particular, the way in which it appears to be dragging its feet over the removal of sunbeds in three of its leisure centres across the county.

Back in May, a Vale Scrutiny Committee recommended in a report to the Cabinet that the sunbeds should be removed. The Council have met three times since then and, in what can only be described as a “reckless failure to uphold their duty of care to the local population,” each time they have failed to consider the issue or take action.

The sunbeds are making a profit of around £15,000 a year for the Vale Council.

Now that the authority is in recess over the summer it will be September, at the earliest, that the recommendation to remove them can be put back on the agenda.

It is a step in the right direction that the dangers of using sunbeds have been recognised by the Scrutiny Committee, but it is difficult to see why the council have not yet taken action. I sincerely hope it simply isn't down to the finance the sunbeds generate. Surely local authorities have a duty of care to the people they represent and a duty to promote public health don’t they?

The Vale is not the only Council to have sunbeds in its leisure centres – Wrexham and Flintshire also do and we have called on them to take action too. Leisure centres, especially those owned by local authorities, should be places where people go for healthy exercise and recreation. Local Authorities should be leading on health protection. It’s absurd that sunbeds are even there. Just one session a month will double the average individual's annual dose of ultraviolet radiation and it’s well known that this increases the risk of cancer, skin and eye problems in later life.

The BMA has been a strong advocate for increasing community access to local leisure facilities and playing fields and has called for increased provision and investment to secure their future.

If leisure centres wish to diversify the facilities on offer, this should not be to the detriment of health and well-being. For instance, the beauty studio at Penarth Leisure Centre should offer fake tan sprays rather than the two sunbeds it currently hosts.

BMA Cymru Wales has campaigned for the tanning industry to be regulated for many years and when we give evidence to National Assembly’s Health Committee next month this is exactly what we’ll be calling for. Across the board we’ll be asking for tough action on sunbeds - including unmanned and coin-operated ones.

In the meantime we are calling on the Vale, and other Councils to act responsibly on behalf of the people they represent by removing the sunbeds at the earliest opportunity.

Candid evidence on sunbeds gives more support to our fight for regulation of the industry

The Assembly’s Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee started hearing evidence yesterday into its inquiry into sunbed use in Wales. And it was certainly powerful evidence for the case FOR regulating the industry.

The mother of teenager Kirsty McRae who suffered 70% burns after using a coin-operated sunbed spoke to the committee of how worrying it is to not know what underlying damage may have been caused to her daughter’s skin, having been exposed to such a substantial dose of UV rays at a very young age. And the 14-year-old was able to use the sunbed without her parents’ knowledge and without anyone checking her age, because the very nature of these coin-operated machines means no members of staff needs to be present.

It’s partly because of cases like Kirsty’s that the committee is holding this inquiry, but it’s a shame that such extreme incidents have to happen, before even an inquiry is held, let alone action taken. As readers of this blog will know only too well, BMA Cymu Wales has campaigned for the tanning industry to be regulated for many years and in our evidence to the committee this is exactly what we’ll be calling for. We really can’t have any more repeat cases like Kirsty’s.

Will Government finally act on regulating the sunbed industry?

More support today for the BMA’s calls to get the tanning industry better regulated. The independent government advisory committee Comare (Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment) says the current system, where the industry is self-regulated, is inadequate on public health grounds.

The committee’s making several recommendations to Government, many of which we’ve been wanting to see happen for a long time.

These include;

Preventing the use of sun beds by children
Ensuring that sun bed users are supervised
Ending the use of coin-operated machines

The question is, will the UK Government act on these recommendations and actually finally do something about regulating the sunbed industry properly?

When will we get a change in the law on unmanned tanning salons?

Yet another case in the media of a child suffering horrific burns as a result of using a sunbed at an unmanned salon.

I have repeated BMA policy and what we want to see happen to prevent more instances of this countless times on this blog so I won't recount it all again. But really, when will we get a ban in place on these types of premises and how many more youngsters have to go through such serious injuries before something is done?

There is something terribly amiss with the law, if a child aged just 10-years-old can access these type of places, which can have such potentially damaging consequences for their health.