Vaughan Gething: Well, I have to say, I don't share her characterisation of the way that Members in this Chamber behaved yesterday. I certainly don't think there was any attempt or intention to introduce supercilious arrogance or to traduce the efforts of Members in every party in having a properly mature conversation about the future of health and care in Wales. The parliamentary review was an honest attempt...
Vaughan Gething: The move that we wish to see—[Interruption.]
Vaughan Gething: The move that we wish to see in health and care is set out in the review. There'll be a concentration of some specialist services onto a smaller number of sites to provide better care. That will mean more physical travelling distance to some of those services. What absolutely compromises that also is that there'll be more care delivered closer to home—we see that already. There are a wide...
Vaughan Gething: At the start of the parliamentary review, there was a conversation about how much would wait until the end of the parliamentary review process and how much would need to carry on in terms of conversation. You'll have seen the lengthy statement from the medical director, Dr Phil Kloer, of Hywel Dda, about an ongoing conversation and consultation that the clinical community have been having...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the comments and for the points. I think it is important—and I have to put on record now—that there is certainly no plan to close Withybush hospital at any point in the immediate future. There is a challenge about what the future will be for any hospital. It's not about sending out faint praise for any site, because you could say the same about Glangwili and about Llanelli...
Vaughan Gething: I'll just deal with your point about beds and investment in health services. We're not just the numbers of money that we invest in the health service—[Inaudible.]—the numbers of staff we have; we treat more people than ever before, more successfully than ever before and that includes in west Wales, just as with the rest of the country. Our challenge is how we organise our services to...
Vaughan Gething: That's absolutely not true.
Vaughan Gething: Across Wales a range of work is being undertaken to strengthen and develop out-of-hours services. We want to ensure appropriate access and a co-ordinated service to meet the needs of patients. These developments are a priority for the unscheduled care work programme and individual health boards.
Vaughan Gething: Health boards and trusts in Wales are performing above target in a number of areas and improvements have been seen in a number of other areas. I have made clear my expectations for improvement, especially in areas where we recognise further progress is required.
Vaughan Gething: Officials will be working with the NHS Wales Informatics Service management board to consider the wider informatics system in Wales. To inform this we will draw on a variety of information, including good practice in other healthcare systems. The recently published Wales Audit Office report and parliamentary review will also inform this work.
Vaughan Gething: The parliamentary review recognised the 2014 Act as 'a strong foundation to build on'. Implementation of the Act is progressing well across Wales, and we will continue to work with stakeholders to identify and address any areas for further development, informed by the findings of the review.
Vaughan Gething: The provision of accessible toilet facilities is an important issue and certain groups such as older people and disabled people can be particularly affected by poor provision. The Public Health (Wales) Act 2017 places a duty on local authorities in Wales to publish a local toilets strategy for their areas.
Vaughan Gething: Cervical screening can save lives and we want to maximise uptake. Seventy-seven per cent of eligible women in Wales regularly attend for cervical screening. From October 2018 we will be introducing a more sensitive primary test allowing us to more effectively identify women requiring treatment, reducing the need for repeat smears.
Vaughan Gething: We are working to improve child health in Wales through a range of plans and actions. Our programme for government, 'Taking Wales Forward', includes implementation of our Healthy Child Wales programme, a universal health programme for all families with children up to the age of seven.
Vaughan Gething: The Welsh Government continues to support local recruitment activity through our successful national and international campaign by marketing Wales as an excellent place for doctors, including general practitioners, to train, work and live.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. I welcome the chief medical officer's report, which was launched today. It has a particular focus on harm from gambling as an emerging public health issue, and I look forward to making a full statement on the report and its recommendations next week.
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for highlighting a hugely important issue for the future of healthcare in Wales and beyond today. This, of course, is a key aspect of prudent healthcare, which my immediate predecessor outlined, and that's continuing through the service. Prudent healthcare is a key aspect when looking at, for example, the NHS Wales Awards; we look for evidence of a prudent approach to...
Vaughan Gething: We will, of course, look at all the evidence available about how to treat gambling addiction in the first place, but I want to come back to your first point about the prevalence of gambling and the ease with which gambling can take place. It's no longer, if you like, an unusual or regulated activity that people have to make an effort to physically go to. There's a challenge about online...
Vaughan Gething: Health boards are responsible for working together and consulting the public regarding proposed changes to health services in Wales. The Welsh Government promotes good practice in engagement and consultation and supports health boards in working together with the public, their staff and others—including, of course, community health councils—to help ensure the best possible health outcomes...
Vaughan Gething: I do recognise the points the Member raises. There's something important about the balance in what we have to do. We have to make sure that there is a genuine, proactive attempt to engage the public in consultations through a variety of different means. There's the personal conversation that takes place between people and staff, there's the written media, there are formal notices, there's...
