Rhun ap Iorwerth: 3. Will the Minister make a statement on the Government’s response to threats of industrial action across the Welsh NHS, and on its plans to try to avert such actions through negotiation? TQ696
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response from the Minister. I also wanted to ask about the shortage of antibiotics. I think we've had quite a comprehensive response there from the Minister. Two other questions from me, again on communication. I was pleased to see the statement coming last night. I've shared that on my social media, in my constituency, and I'm sure other Members are doing likewise, and the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Dirprwy Lywydd, we're facing multiple disputes. Multiple unions have balloted on strike action. Ambulance staff are, of course, the latest to prepare to go on strike. The Minister has said again that it's all down to UK Government cuts, and I agree about their economic vandalism and the harm of their ideological-driven cuts to public spending. But, whilst pay is clearly central to these...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I'm losing my voice, I think. I can't overemphasise the significance of this statement. Announcing the budget is one of the highlights of the year in parliamentary terms every year, but the significance is even greater this year, as the Welsh Government has to budget in a difficult economic situation. I agree with the Minister about the economic mess that has...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I would ask you which country you're talking about actually—[Interruption.] But do you recognise that life expectancy has been falling for the first time in many, many generations?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much. And in the final health questions of the year, may I take this opportunity to wish the Minister, the Senedd, and everyone working across the health and care services a very 'Merry Christmas'? But it sounds quite an empty greeting, when we look at the challenges that those services face. I truly didn't know what to ask today. There are so many things that I could pursue:...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Well, 'hope' was a word used there. I fear that that is the Minister hoping for the best; the NHS isn't going to overcome its problems if the Minister simply hopes for the best. And with more ambulance staff, of course, it's a problem of failing to get patients into hospital, so more staff isn't going to resolve that issue.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I do turn, though, in my second question, to the various pay disputes—nurses in Wales striking for the first time this week, ambulance staff and midwives to strike too. I'm keen to find a way through this, but Welsh Government still isn't even engaging in meaningful negotiations. Now, the Minister says her hands are tied. Let me ask her this: does she even want those hands to be untied,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I have to emphasise the importance of this debate from our benches this afternoon. I'll focus on the clear connection between poverty and health issues. We are going through a very difficult financial situation at the moment, that's clear from the draft budget that was discussed yesterday, which has major restrictions placed upon it in genuinely hard times. And it's no surprise in that...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I thank Jack for bringing this short debate forward today? I want to take you back some 30 years. I was chair of the University of Wales branch of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg when I was invited to be part of a delegation to go to Barclays's headquarters in Wales, which was on Queen Street in Cardiff, to lobby for a Welsh option on cash points. Now, cash points were relatively new at that...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 8. Will the First Minister make a statement on the critical internal incident within Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board? OQ58933
Rhun ap Iorwerth: We've had two incidents of this kind in the space of a fortnight in north Wales—two internal critical incidents. And I can give the First Minister an assurance that it does feel to be critical within Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board day upon day, for patients waiting a long time for treatment, for staff who are working under huge pressures and for ambulance workers who've had enough...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: A very happy new year to you all. Clearly, it hasn't been a good start to the year for the NHS. I can only thank the staff for their work in circumstances that are becoming more and more impossible.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: This is not the statement that I had expected today; it's not the statement that I think the people of Wales needed to hear. This isn't a plan; this is a status report. It's a report on what Government has been doing to try to get the NHS ready for winter, to try to deal with current pressures, but frankly we know that what this Labour Government has done hasn't worked. What we want to know...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I have a few other points that I want to question you on briefly. It's clear that the combination of COVID and flu is causing problems. There's a target of vaccinating 75 per cent of everyone offered a vaccination. Only some 41 per cent, as I understand it, of healthcare staff have been vaccinated—41 per cent of those who are most vulnerable. Does the Minister accept that the Government is...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 6. Will the Minister provide an update on the work to reopen the Menai bridge? OQ58910
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much. It is very important to stick to that timetable. We can all agree, I hope, that the experience of the past few months has proven just how vulnerable the infrastructure is in terms of the Menai crossings. The closure of the Menai bridge and the traffic jams on the Britannia bridge have created great inconvenience and had a great impact on business, not only in the Menai...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: This is a very timely debate as January is Love Your Liver Awareness Month, and today, 11 January, is National Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Day. This debate emanates from the work of the cross-party group on liver disease and liver cancer, which is a group that I'm proud to be a part of. Through that group, I and others commit to drawing attention to the crisis that we are facing in...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd, and Plaid Cymru is pleased to co-submit this motion. It's very important that there is cross-party support here, and I do appeal to Members on the Labour benches to support the motion. Let me take you back to August, the Bull pub in Llannerch-y-medd. And I don't know how exactly to describe the community extravaganza of the sheep shearing. There was a fair there,...
