, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Well, happy Christmas to you as well, Russell. [Laughter.] And I'm very pleased that that was your last question this year. Look, I've had better years, if I'm honest, and obviously, there are a lot of things that I wish that we'd seen improvements on and I…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Well, thanks. Listen, we've put in stretching targets; I'm confident that we are going to meet the target in many areas of specialisms and, obviously, we're going to be pushing everybody to try. But we always said that orthopaedics in particular would be a…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Well, you may have noticed that, actually, where the populations are based in Wales, it's very different from what exists in England—they have big cities; they have places that are near each other. It's much easier for them to organise separate surgical hubs…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Thanks very much. I'm pleased to say that I have followed up on that debate, and one of the things that I've done is to hold a cancer summit meeting, where, obviously, we looked at the breakdown of where we need to make further progress in relation in…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Thank you very much. I'm very sorry to hear Emily's story; she is one of many women suffering from endometriosis. We have recognised that we need to do far more in this area, and that's why we do have endometriosis nurses in all health boards across Wales…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
The NHS Wales collaborative has led the development of a 10-year women's health plan, and this will form the service's response to the requirement set out in the women and girls health quality statement. The plan will deliver improvements to health provision…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Thank you very much, Natasha, and thank you for the opportunity to draw attention to the fact that, actually, in cold weather, in icy weather, in snowy weather, you are more likely to fall. I would ask, in particular, those who are more frail to pay…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Sorry, I'm just rescuing my water now. Thank you very much. I have made clear my expectation that all patients in Wales should receive equitable access to fracture liaison services, and we are working with health boards to achieve this.
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Can I just be clear that the Scottish Government work within a different framework from the framework that we have? So, we have signed up to the independent pay commission. That's something that all the unions—they all agreed to do that. They all gave their…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thanks very much. It's all very well for you to say, 'Da iawn'. The fact is, we've got a set amount of money. That's it. Right? So, we've got a choice: you either cut services or you cut the number of people in order to give a pay rise. Now, I don't think…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
I'm saddened that our health workers have got to a point where they feel they need to take industrial action. I fully understand and sympathise with their situation, but, without additional funding from the UK Government, there is simply no money to increase…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
I think it's important, we've obviously put a lot of additional funding into 111. Obviously, as you say, we are working very closely with UK Government to make sure we don't run out of those antibiotics. We think this has happened because perhaps of the lack…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thanks very much. As I set out in my statement, parents who suspect their children have scarlet fever are advised that they should contact their GP or they should contact 111. Those facilities are available and people are using them. I would suggest at this…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you very much. Well, Public Health Wales is leading on ensuring that information is available to the public. I've contacted them today to ask them to simplify the language, because I think, sometimes, it becomes too technical in nature. People perhaps…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Diolch yn fawr. Can I add my expressions of condolence to, in particular, the family who've recently lost a child? I think we all understand the real concern that many parents are suffering today because of the increase that we are seeing in strep A in our…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Strep A infections cause a number of common childhood illnesses. It's not unusual to see cases associated with nurseries and schools. Nurseries and schools have received guidance from Public Health Wales, and parents of unwell children are being advised to…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Nurses' pay
Thank you. I want to give you an assurance that the nurse bursary will remain. I'd like to emphasise that what we need is a fair funding settlement from the UK Government, which recognises the hard work of all of our NHS staff and other public sector workers…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Nurses' pay
No, I'm not doing any more interventions, if you don't mind, because I know the Llywydd is going to call me to order very soon.
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Nurses' pay
I can assure you that my officials are working on this as we speak. There's a lot of work being done. I do think people need to understand that we do have a legal requirement in terms of safe staffing levels. If you're saying, 'Don't use agency staff', what…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Nurses' pay
Sure.
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Nurses' pay
The supplementary budget is going to be coming out very shortly, and you'll get all the detail in there. You will see the impact of the inflationary pressures, and they are way over anything that was in unallocated funding that you looked at in June. Every…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Nurses' pay
No, I'm not going to give way again.
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Nurses' pay
No, I can tell you there is no unallocated funding. I can't go further than that. I can tell you how much over—. I think we can get that information to you.
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Nurses' pay
Well, just to be absolutely clear, the pressures are way above that. This is no underspend this year. Wake up and smell the roses. I'll tell you how much extra I've had to find in terms of cuts this year in the NHS budget. It's cuts. We're way overspent.
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Nurses' pay
Yes, I'm happy to give way.
