, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care: NHS Waiting Times
Thank you to the Cabinet Secretary for that statement. I wonder: is there a glimmer of hope here? I very much hope so, because it's in all of our interests, each and every one of us, that these waiting times are reduced, so that we can allocate resources and…
, Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
Can I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for health and care on the availability and provision of mental health beds, please, particularly looking at north Wales? I have cases coming into my office where people suffering from mental health…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank the First Minister for that response. It is frustrating to see that the latest data demonstrated that performance targets for cancer are declining once again. But in the case of patients in north Wales, the challenge of getting a diagnosis is even…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
4. Will the First Minister make a statement on cancer services in Wales? OQ63760
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, if we're serious about preventative measures, then genomics is going to be central to this. Mapping an individual's genetic code will lead to the ability to tailor healthcare long before one needs treatment or care because of that ability to identify a…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
Thank you for that.
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
Thank you. This is my final question on this, because I don't want to take up too much of your time. When it comes to providing or living up to the ambition of the Act, every unpaid carer has the right to an assessment. If they receive an assessment, then…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
Local authorities would come back and would say, 'Well, it's almost impossible' or that it's unfair to expect them to deliver entirely on the requirements of the legislation because they're not funded sufficiently in order to do that. Do you sympathise with…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
Thank you. So, if I could go on to the next steps, in the absence of responses from local authorities—and I accept that you're waiting for those—you do have experience in the field for over 18 months now of being the Minister, and you have mentioned that…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
Okay. So, how confident are you, given how few unpaid carers are assessed, and, in light of that, receive any kind of support, that the needs of unpaid carers are being met in the proper way in Wales at the moment, and that the delivery bodies regionally and…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
Thank you for that response, Minister, and thank you for your honesty there. I think it's amazing that we're in a situation where we don't know the data on unpaid carers. Would you agree, therefore, in the absence of accurate data, that we don't have good…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
Apologies if I didn't make myself clear there. The health sector does collect data on unpaid carers, or there is potential for them to collect data on unpaid carers. And it's in that area that I'm talking about, specifically, inconsistency.
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
Could I, therefore, just interrupt you? Sorry.
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
Thank you. If I could go on to another element, which is data, you have touched on the issue of data, and you have given us one date. But further to that inconsistency in data collection, which has been central to the evidence that we've received during this…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
On that point, if I may, you have just said that you extended that grant for another year, and that is frozen. So, there's an opportunity there to have increased that in line with inflation—and we hear that inflation is going up—but it hasn't kept up with…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
Well, I'm pleased that the Minister referred there to the sustainable social services grant. As I understand it, that grant, in real terms, has been frozen since 2022 or 2023, which means that the sector—. And that grant does support unpaid carers; that's…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Improving access to support for unpaid carers: evidence session with the Minister for Children and Social Care
Good morning, and apologies once again that I can't be physically present with you down there. I just want to touch to start with, before I go on to my particular area of questioning, on the partners that you work with in order to deliver. You have mentioned…
, Plenary
Short Debate: The need for a national plan to improve Tourette syndrome services
As far as I understand, there is scientific support for that feeling and sense, and there is support in place for people who do live with tics and Tourette's, and it's support for managing behaviour. I want to see whether this Government has considered…
, Plenary
Short Debate: The need for a national plan to improve Tourette syndrome services
'those who suffer it say the feeling is a bit like a sneeze. You can feel it coming on and you just have to let it out.'
, Plenary
Short Debate: The need for a national plan to improve Tourette syndrome services
Thank you to Lee for bringing forward this debate. It's certainly an issue that we don't discuss often enough. There was a debate, I believe, on the floor of the Senedd back in 2022. There was a petition before the Petitions Committee calling for a pathway…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Hospices
The message of the motion is as true today as it was when I introduced a debate on the same subject exactly two years ago. And it's worth reminding ourselves of what I said two years ago. Hospices are a crucial part of our health and care system, providing…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Hospices
We welcome this motion because it looks at the long term. That level of forward planning is admirable. And given recent events on the benches opposite, it's not always a given. And thinking about Reform: Reform will bang on about the need to look after our…
, Plenary
Debate on the Health and Social Care Committee Report, 'Prevention of ill health—obesity'
A research paper demonstrates £73 million at the moment, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that it was an underestimate of what the main cost is when you consider all of the impact of obesity on the health service. That's a direct figure, according to the…
, Plenary
Debate on the Health and Social Care Committee Report, 'Prevention of ill health—obesity'
This was a very interesting inquiry and a very good one, and I'm very grateful to everyone who participated in this inquiry. It was an eye-opening one. I've used the term several times now that obesity is the rhinoceros that faces us on the road. We all see…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Finally, I've raised the importance of our allied health professionals many times in this Chamber. They are integral if we are to develop a comprehensive preventative health service, key in ensuring that people re-enter the workforce, and essential in…
