, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
That's a distressing story, Llywydd, but it exactly reflects the point that I made originally that children like Gemma would have been better served had the system invested in preventative action and early intervention to prevent that very sad story of what…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I think there are a number of reasons that lie behind that unfortunate fact. The biggest one is that we take too many children away from their families here in Wales. This is a point that I have tried to make ever since I was the health…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I thank Ken Skates for that, and I agree with him very much that the best help you can offer, particularly to young people, in the mental health field is that early and preventative intervention that gets them the advice they need. It allows…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I echo, of course, what the Member said about recognising the work that our very committed staff in the national health service do every single day, on this anniversary of the NHS. I agree with him that the time that assessments are taking…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, we continue to provide significant and sustained funding to support mental health services. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board will receive an additional £4.9 million in recurrent mental health funding, starting this year, to help improve access…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, let me give the Member an assurance that no dentist in Wales is working for free. Dentists, on average, earn somewhere between £70,000 and £100,000 a year, depending on the nature of their contract. And while I agree very much with what Sarah Murphy…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, part of the premise of that question is nonsensical, and the Member knew it when he said it, as well. The contract reform, as we have explained many, many times on the floor of the Senedd, was an optional matter. It was for practices to decide…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, 99 per cent of NHS dental contract value in Swansea Bay University Health Board and 88 per cent in Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board will now be undertaken by practices that have opted in to dental contract reform. Working under reform…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
The St Brides practice gave notice a considerable time before this week, and the neighbouring GP practices, accepting patients who previously would have been looked after by St Brides, have all confirmed that they have the capacity and the workforce to…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
The Welsh Government’s policy is to improve access to primary care services by using, to the full, the talents and capabilities of all members of the clinical team. In this way, the time of GPs can be released to respond to the needs of more complex cases.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, thank you to Cefin Campbell for that question. I remember, back in 2015 when the scheme was being created, making those points at that time. Communities in England and communities in Scotland can use the rural fuel duty relief scheme, but nobody in…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, thank you to Cefin Campbell for the question. Welsh Ministers take every opportunity to raise these matters with the UK Government. Cost-of-living measures, including fuel poverty, were discussed at last week's meeting of the Finance…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, I thank the Member for that question. I wouldn't like to get into a contest with him on pub visiting, but I visited a pub in Burry Port recently, which had equally been taken over by two young people, and making an enormous success of it. So, I…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, last week, the Minister for Economy announced further investment to support 1,200 young people to start their own businesses. In addition to direct financial help, the scheme also provides one-to-one advice and guidance, for example, through the…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I'm grateful for the opportunity to set out the facts in relation to the dental contract, because we rehearsed this significantly on the floor of the Senedd at the end of March, when the leader of the opposition told me that not a single practice in the Hywel…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Additional investment, contract reform, progressive lifting of COVID restrictions and the opening of the north Wales dental academy are amongst the actions being taken to improve access to NHS dentistry in the Member’s region.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, all health boards—apart from Cardiff, which will begin later this year—now have rapid diagnostic centres. So, I'm not quite sure what problem the Member sees with pace, when they're already happening in six out of seven health boards in Wales…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Wel, Llywydd, it's important to give the Wales cancer network, who are working on this plan, the time that they have requested, and we're not talking about more than a matter of weeks before we reach the beginning of September, so I think we are trying to act…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, work to produce the action plan is being carried out by the Wales cancer network. That work will continue through the summer. The Minister expects to receive a draft of the plan in September.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Peter Fox for those points, Llywydd. He's right to say that the Act passed by the UK Parliament is an Act for England only. What it requires is for public authorities to take account of guidance—guidance that, as yet, has not been published. But of…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank the Member for that, Llywydd. Early discussions with the UK Government established that its Down Syndrome Act will provide people with Down's syndrome in England with the same level of support and protection already enjoyed by people in Wales.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I've always argued—and I’ve got into trouble for it from time to time—that if the people of any constituent part of the United Kingdom vote for a referendum on their future, then they should be allowed to hold that referendum. I think that that…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I just don't see the purpose of continually re-litigating this issue in front of the Senedd. It was in front of the people of Wales a year ago, and it could not have been in front of them in starker terms. I stood next to the leader of Plaid…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
First of all, Llywydd, let me say this, that it was deeply, deeply disrespectful of the UK Government—disrespectful to devolution, disrespectful to this Senedd—yesterday to have smuggled out, in an explanatory memorandum, not even in the statement that they…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, I think I've already answered most of those points already, Llywydd. I've explained to the leader of the opposition that, as soon as we're able to achieve a balance between outflow from the welcome centres, we will be able to reopen them to welcome more…
