Welsh Labour

Speeches and questions

Speeches and questions in Plenary and in committees, newest first. The Llywydd's and deputies' chairing of Plenary is left out.

2,975 speeches and questions

29 September 2021Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Thank you very much, Rhun. I do agree that it is a shame that we haven't gone further than this previously, but we do have a programme in place now. Forty million pounds has been earmarked for that. It's not as though no work has gone on; work has already…
29 September 2021Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Thanks very much, Joyce, and I would agree with you; I think it is important for us to understand what we're trying to do in these places. We are trying to increase the investment, understanding that primary care is a key aspect of how we're delivering health…
29 September 2021Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Thank you very much, Cefin. As I said, the service is under immense pressure at the moment. The increase in the number of people calling for ambulance services—well, we've never seen anything like this before. The fact is that about 20 per cent of those calls…
29 September 2021Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Diolch yn fawr, Paul. I'm sure you'll be interested to hear that I'm very aware of your concerns, and therefore I have organised for the representative from the Welsh ambulance service to give a briefing to Members from Mid and West Wales on Friday this week…
29 September 2021Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Thank you very much, Paul. Health services, like every health board in the health service at the moment, are under great pressure dealing with record numbers of COVID cases in the community, seeing an ageing population, a fragile care sector, the threat of…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Diolch.
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Thanks, Joyce. Well, you and I are aware, and we keep a very close eye on the situation in Hywel Dda. I think it is important that people understand that there are issues around the demographics of the population in Hywel Dda that are slightly different from…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
I did meet with some trade union representatives yesterday. Obviously we are keeping an eye very closely on the situation. They've gone out to consultation; we've had the response from the RCN; the GMB also, I think we're just awaiting for that response…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
I don't have the detail on that. I don't know if Julie, or maybe Albert, could help with this.
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
I'll just say very, very briefly, that that's part of the Government COVID reserves. So that would be just a one-off payment for this year. And it's very important, of course, because we are in a position where we're firefighting; we need to get through the…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Well, lots of health boards have innovative projects, and that, I think, is part of the challenge for us—making sure that that good practice is rolled out. I guess it's quite difficult to roll that out when, frankly, they have been firefighting for the past…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Thanks very much, Mike. I think, first of all, it's probably worth noting that I don't fully agree with the auditor general's assessment that the financial position is extremely challenging. Of course, it's challenging—it's always challenging—but I think even…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Well, we do have a requirement, and what happens is we've got a General Medical Council contract that we've negotiated with them, and they're, effectively, paid a bonus if they reach the contract requirements. So, we, obviously, do clock that, and it is…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Well, I'm glad to say that the stroke quality statement, I certainly approved it yesterday, I don't know if it's gone public yet, but that should be coming out today or tomorrow. So, I'm pleased to say that that, as you say, is a very important statement. So…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Well, in 'A Healthier Wales', we've set out that we're going to have these national clinical frameworks, and within that, we're going to have these quality statements. I think we've got to understand that when it comes to delivery, the delivery is done by the…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
I have been quite surprised at how delayed the digital transformation in the NHS has been, but I can assure you that we’re on that now, that there are some really great innovations that are happening, and you’ll be aware, in Swansea, that the e-prescribing…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Thanks, Mike, and this is certainly something that I’m very interested in looking at. We have had some proposals from health boards and, as I said before, we’re trying to encourage them to work collaboratively outside of their areas, because we won’t be able…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
You'll be aware, Mike, that we've already committed £25 million to addressing this issue. And you're absolutely right: emergency departments are not the most appropriate places for a significant number of those patients who attend, and you're quite right that…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Thanks very much, Mike. I know you've got very strong feelings about this, and I heard you very clearly in the Senedd yesterday, speaking very eloquently on this issue. I think the first thing to say is that the way GPs see patients has changed during the…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Can I ask Julie to answer this?
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
I'm going to ask Lynne Neagle to help out here in terms of the support we're giving to our staff, because, obviously, they have been under the cosh for a very long time now. But just, first of all, I think it's worth putting on record my admiration and…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
So, we can set it against the modelling of what the COVID situation looks like, but it's not just about COVID now. You've got to bear in mind that, actually, at the moment it's very difficult to get people out of hospital. So, we've got 1,000 people in…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Every health board has come up with a plan for themselves in terms of how they would like to tackle this issue, and Betsi have come up with some very innovative ideas that we're exploring very actively at the moment. Of course, every one of them will respond…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
It's really difficult because a lot of it depends on what happens in relation to COVID. So, if we see increasing numbers coming into our hospitals, if we are still unable to get people out of our hospitals because of the issues in relation to domiciliary…
23 September 2021Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing
I'll just give you a broad figure, and that is that, actually, we are trying to get up to the pre-pandemic levels. We're not there yet. We're managing to see about 70 per cent of what we were seeing pre COVID in terms of elective activity. When it comes to…