A Lancashire mum is lobbying Downing Street today as parents are 'forced to sell their homes' to afford medical cannabis oil to ease their child's severe epilepsy

Joanne Griffiths, of Much Hoole, is joining nine other families as part of the pressure group End Our Pain today (Thursday, September 19), to submit a handwritten letter to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, demanding urgent action.

They will also be submitting a giant invoice to the Department for Health totalling the amount they have spent on private prescriptions, which exceeds £200,000. Joanne has so far had to fork out more than £31,000 for medical cannabis oil which has reduced 10-year-old Ben’s seizures from 300 a day to 12.

To make a donation to Ben's medical fund, visit http://www.just4children.org/children-helped2019/boisterous-ben/

Joanne, 43, said: “The date will mark six months since the families met the Secretary of State for Health to highlight their plights. He told them he knew they needed ‘urgent action’ and ‘could not wait months.’

"But six months on, all families are still funding private prescriptions to keep their children safe. Therefore the Prime Minister must intervene, because the Secretary of State has let them down. The families are running out of money and medicine.

"Some are being forced to sell their homes because medical cannabis is the only treatment that gives their child seizure control, relief from their distressing symptoms and a quality of life. Some have only a few weeks of supply left.

"Despite the law changing almost a year ago End Our Pain is not aware of a single new NHS prescription that has been written for any patient in the UK. Patients hopes were raised and then cruelly dashed.”

To make a donation to Ben's medical fund, visit http://www.just4children.org/children-helped2019/boisterous-ben/