Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The boards and health trusts will respond through their local plans to the quality statement. We, of course, will steer the development of those plans and also monitor the development. The Wales Cancer Network board will support the health boards with the pathways that work most effectively on a national level—those that need to be adopted. They will also assist health boards in drawing the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Cancer is, of course, more than 200 diseases rather than one thing. It's primarily a disease of the ageing process, but a significant proportion of cases are preventable, particularly through tackling rates of smoking and obesity. Prior to the pandemic we had a number of iterations of national strategies and delivery plans, and we saw many successive years of gradual improvement in cancer...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. I'd like to thank Mabon for bringing forward this Member's debate and say how sorry I am to hear about his father's situation. We do all wish him well with his situation. Although the Government will abstain, it's a vitally important matter, as reflected by the contributions of Members today, most importantly in terms of how it affects our constituents, but also how it has...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. Health boards have to develop services on the basis of the local population, and if patients then ask to go somewhere else, that can have an impact and destabilise services in the two health boards. So, if they've planned for one thing and something else happens, evidently that is going to cause problems. I think that it is important to recognise that if, for example,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Health boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the needs of their local population. The all-Wales prior approval scheme ensures that patients are treated as close to their homes as possible within their own local health board areas.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Sam. It's important to recognise that there have always been difficulties to recruit to some of our more remote areas. That's why we've had a very significant campaign, the 'Train. Work. Live.' campaign, which has been significant and we've managed to recruit significant numbers to west Wales because of that campaign—30 in 2020 and 26 in 2021. So, we also have Health...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. The Welsh Government is working with NHS Wales organisations to increase the healthcare workforce in Hywel Dda, and in other parts of Wales. This includes measures to boost recruitment, to support retention to keep people working in the NHS, and to encourage professionals to return to their careers and return to practice.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Alun, and there's no question that the ambulance service has been under huge pressure, and of course none of these things live in isolation from each other. I think it probably is worth emphasising that, actually, in terms of 999 calls, for example, this October has seen a 24 per cent increase compared to last October. So, it's not just about them not performing well;...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust is working with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board to implement a range of actions to manage demand for the 999 service in Blaenau Gwent. This will lead to increased capacity, improved responsiveness to people with complaints that are time-sensitive, and the ability to hand over ambulance patients more quickly.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. I think it's—. I'm very aware of the Royal College of Physicians inquiry into the Grange hospital. I know that the health board has responded and are taking that very, very seriously, but I'm also aware that the community health council have written a report as well. They also highlight some of the challenges at the Grange, but they also have emphasised some examples of good...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, I think it's really important for us to understand that actually we've got a programme, and the programme, 'A Healthier Wales', is trying to make sure that people get support as close to home as possible, and ideally that would be in the home. So, that's where we need to be heading. I think we've also got to understand that, actually, the way we do health is changing all of the time....
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. Health boards are responsible for planning to meet the needs of their residents. There has been concerted work throughout the pandemic to forecast demand and develop surge capacity to meet anticipated peaks. Ensuring sufficient capacity for winter is a key priority and it's discussed regularly with health boards and included within winter plans.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, and thank you for the question. As a woman who is of the age where we have to be concerned about such things, I'm pleased to see that the UK Government has followed what we've done in Wales. We've been offering free HRT for many years, so the revolution that's happening in England has been in place for many years here in Wales. You're quite right in terms of the postcode...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. It is very important to underline the fact that cancer has always been prioritised and that it has always been an essential service, even at the outset of the pandemic. So, we've always prioritised that and have never taken that away from the plan. It's important for us to have clinical advice about what we will have to put in the back seat as we develop the vaccination...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. Of course, there will be a problem with capacity if we're going to throw everything at this in the next few weeks. Evidently, other things will have to take a back seat to that. In terms of primary care, we're very aware that there is great pressure on them, but it is interesting to see that some GPs have been willing to come to the fore and to take the reins. As you've...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Well, there's no question about it, our NHS services are under pressure like they've never seen before. We've seen a huge increase in terms of demand, but I can assure you that when it comes to cancer, this has always been an essential service; it has never been something we've switched off. We have invested significantly in new equipment, and I'll have a lot more to say...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I'm sorry if there's been some misunderstanding in terms of the situation with the BMA. My understanding is that, of course, they are aware that their members are under huge pressure already, but I don't think they were closing the door on the option of GPs being able to help out if they were called on to do so. What they were saying is, if we do that, then, obviously, something else will...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, thanks very much, Russell. I am confident that all the stops are being pulled out, as we speak; that the NHS health boards are developing, and, today, are supposed to come back to us with what their proposals are to massively increase the booster roll-out in Wales. We're not just asking that of health boards; we know that we're getting offers of support from local government, from the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, and thank you for your perseverance on this issue. And I know it's an issue that matters a huge amount to you in particular; I know that there is a particular problem in the Llandrindod area, and that's why we have been trying to focus our attention on that. It's not an easy issue to resolve, but one of the things we have done is to make sure that we've injected an extra...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Well, obviously, mental health is an issue that my colleague, Lynne Neagle, leads on, and I know that you'll be aware of her incredible commitment to this cause over many, many years. It's absolutely clear that the number of people who are contacting their GPs for mental health support has increased significantly, and there are lots of ways for us to deal with this. I think...
