Monmouthshire families have backed plans for around 120 children with cerebral palsy to receive ground-breaking treatment for free on the NHS. Patients aged between three and 10 are to benefit from Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) treatment as part of NHS England's Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) programme, an evaluative study that tests the effectiveness of the treatment. Although NHS Wales will be participating in the scheme, funding will only be made available for a handful of Welsh children. Several families in Monmouthshire have been required to raise £40,000 for their child to receive the surgery currently not funded by the NHS. Antony Atkins from Rogiet, whose daughter Ruby is in need of SDR, said the study is a step forward for children with cerebral palsy. He said: "The study is great news. What we are keen to understand as quickly as possible is the criteria for children to be put forward for the study. "Ultimately the fact they've started looking into this is great." Catherine Ashwell-Rice, who has been fundraising to pay for her daughter Imogen Ashwell-Lewis to have SDR treatment, said: "I hope people realise what a difference this makes to children's lives." She has been told that Imogen would have been a perfect candidate to have the surgery through the CtE programme. SDR surgery will be carried out at five hospitals in England where children can be referred by their local specialists to be considered for treatment. The procedure involves entering the spinal cord via vertebrae and cutting the portion that carries messages from the brain to the legs. Combined with physiotherapy, this will enable the child to walk unaided. James Palmer, clinical director of specialised services at NHS England, said: "Although current evidence is limited, SDR surgery shows real promise for some patients with mobility problems and that's why we want to explore it further through our innovative evaluation programme. "Not only will this enable a number of children to have potentially life-changing surgery, improving their mobility and independence, but this provides a real opportunity to gather the vital evidence we need on the effectiveness of the procedure, for the benefits of our patients." Seven-year-old Chase Vaughan from Monmouth underwent SDR treatment last year following a campaign to raise £40,000. Her mum Helen Morgan said her daughter is making excellent progress following the procedure. A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "We fully appreciate the desire of families who have children with cerebral palsy to pursue treatment they feel could improve their child's life. "In common with the rest of the UK, SDR is not routinely commissioned by NHS Wales because there is a lack of clinical evidence at this time to support the treatment. "However, Wales will be taking part in NHS England's 'commissioning through evaluation' process to fully assess SDR's effectiveness to inform its future use. "This means funding will be made available for a small number of children in Wales to have the treatment."