, Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Mental Health and Early Years
Diolch, Cadeirydd. The mental health inequalities report of this committee, Minister, emphasised the importance of attachment and good parent-child relationships. So, I wonder if you could tell committee what is your vision of policies for further development…
, Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Mental Health and Early Years
Very, very quickly, if I could, Chair, is it the case—? I've heard it said that, in general, there's a societal view sometimes that talking about suicide is a risk factor, that it might make suicide more likely in general terms. I suppose it's about putting…
, Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Mental Health and Early Years
Okay.
, Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Mental Health and Early Years
Do you think we can be confident in the figures as to whether deaths by suicide are recorded as deaths by suicide? Because there are always issues around that, aren’t there, for various reasons. How confident can we be?
, Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Mental Health and Early Years
Diolch yn fawr, Weinidog. In terms of key concerns and patterns, what has it actually shown, that surveillance system?
, Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Mental Health and Early Years
Diolch, Gadeirydd. Bore da, Weinidog. I wanted to ask you about the real-time suicide surveillance system introduced in 2022—how important, how significant, how useful that is in providing this real-time intelligence on patterns around suicide, and what those…
, Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Social Care
This data that you mentioned, Minister, will it enable you to drive down into those variations and how good practice can be spread?
, Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Social Care
I guess, no doubt, we will see variation, and considerable variation, between health boards and local authorities.
, Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Social Care
In terms of delayed transfers of care, Minister, which, again, is a long-running issue, the last figures I have here in the committee briefing is that, in April, there were over 1,700 people occupying a hospital bed who were ready for discharge. A couple of…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
That may apply also to this question, Minister: it's just in terms of ensuring there isn't a disincentive for health boards to promote the use of direct payments for continuing healthcare, because of this tension about who's paying for the care, again…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
Take-up of direct payments for social care is quite low, isn't it? Audit Wales found that, in their view, people in Wales are not consistently supported to take up those direct payments. Do you believe that there should be a strengthening of the legal…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
Diolch, Gadeirydd. Minister, I guess we're all pretty familiar with the tension between local authorities and health boards in terms of whether continuing healthcare is provided, because, obviously, it's a question of which one is paying for the care. There…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
I'm not sure I'd describe some of these issues as 'technicalities', but there we go.
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
All right. Okay, Chair. Perhaps I could just ask one further question, maybe, then, in terms of the duty on local authorities to prepare and publish the annual sufficiency plan for accommodation for looked-after children. Could you give us an indication…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
Yes. Could I ask you, in general, Minister, in terms of that need to increase capacity in the public sector, which, obviously, you and your officials have already referred to on some of the funding that's available, if you can tell committee the number of new…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
Could I ask, as well—? One of the issues for legislation, always, I think, is the possibility of unintended consequences, and there is going to be a transition, as you say, Minister, with regard to taking profit out of provision. At the moment, there are a…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
Okay. Could I just ask about, perhaps, some of the more difficult provision—intensive crisis, therapeutic intervention and secure accommodation? Is it going to be more difficult to take profit out of the system in terms of provision of those particular…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
Okay. I hope we do see progress; it's badly needed, isn't it.
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
How significant is that number, then, of unaccompanied asylum-seeker children? If you took those children out of the equation, would we be seeing a reduction at the moment, or not?
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
Obviously, it would be very good and beneficial in all ways if the numbers of children going into care could be significantly reduced. Do we see any progress at the moment?
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
But Wales wide, right across Wales?
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
In terms of delivering on that restriction of profit, the edge-of-care funding is in place, isn't it, to try and reduce numbers of children going into care, but, nonetheless, we see numbers continuing to increase at the moment, I believe, unless that's no…
, Health and Social Care Committee
Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with the Minister for Social Care
Thank you, Chair. Good morning, Minister.
, Health and Social Care Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
Diolch, Cadeirydd.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh Language
Cabinet Secretary, the current plans of Tata and the current UK Government would not see the UK and Wales keep its strategic steel industry, which is so important, as we know, for so many other aspects of security and economic health in Wales and beyond. We…
