Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to thank the committee for their report and the debate today. We may not agree on every single issue at the end of it, but I think there is a shared ambition for our digital future within the world of health and care. Of course, 'A Healthier Wales' puts digital technology transformation and basic, essential use at the heart of transforming health...
Vaughan Gething: I'll come to outages later in my remarks. In Wales, we're developing an online directory of services that aggregates information from across health, care and voluntary sectors to make it easier for citizens to find information on services relevant to them. As outlined in my response to the Public Accounts Committee, a review of NHS digital architecture is under way, and that will guide plans...
Vaughan Gething: Recruitment and retention remains a priority for the Welsh Government and for health boards and trusts. On a national level, recruitment continues to be supported by our successful ‘Train. Work. Live.’ campaign, alongside record levels of investment to support healthcare education and training, including additional medical school places.
Vaughan Gething: We have a wide range of improvement activity that we expect the people of Pembrokeshire to benefit from. In addition to service specific improvements, the population will continue to benefit from investment in primary care facilities, the transformation fund and the integrated care fund in 2019/20.
Vaughan Gething: The Grange hospital is the one new hospital currently under construction in south-east Wales. It is on schedule to open in the spring of 2021. The business case for the construction of a new cancer centre to replace Velindre hospital is currently being prepared.
Vaughan Gething: I will make a statement on delivery over winter next week. We have been open about pressures experienced by health and social care services over recent weeks, but it is testament to the commitment of front-line staff that the vast majority of patients are still receiving high-quality and timely care.
Vaughan Gething: Clinicians from the health board have been working with the Faculty of Medical Management and Leadership to review the current arrangements for obstetric, neonatal and paediatric services in the region. If any changes are proposed to the current service, then there would be engagement with stakeholders and the public.
Vaughan Gething: The Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee commissions low dose rate brachytherapy for prostate cancer for the population of Wales. High dose rate brachytherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer is not currently commissioned in Wales but may be accessed through an individual patient funding request.
Vaughan Gething: We continue to work with health boards and partners to improve services relating to chronic or persistent pain. We are working with Powys Teaching Local Health Board to ensure that any patients affected by the decision to close the pain service at Oswestry are minimised.
Vaughan Gething: Improving health for everyone is a central ambition of 'Prosperity for All' and 'A Healthier Wales'. Welsh Government, in partnership with Public Health Wales, health boards and local authorities, is working to deliver our priorities to improve population health. Central to this is support for targeted interventions to encourage healthy lifestyles.
Vaughan Gething: I have met twice with the Tawel Fan families' group in north Wales, once in my former role as deputy health Minister and more recently in October.
Vaughan Gething: Yes. This is a matter that was raised during the meeting with the families in October. There's been a range of correspondence around the purpose and point of the unit. I'm actually looking ahead now to what I'm expecting to be an outline case for revising the estate on that particular site, and it will involve changes to the current Tawel Fan site, as well, together with a strategy the health...
Vaughan Gething: Well, that's a particular point of view that's taken, and I don't agree with every factual assertion that the Member has made. The 100-day plan of the start of special measures was actually to reset the course with the health board. There was no suggestion that within 100 days all issues would be resolved; that was never claimed by anybody within the health board or outside it. To suggest...
Vaughan Gething: Car parking is free at all NHS hospitals in Wales. Health boards and NHS trusts are responsible for the local management operations and the arrangements for car parks on their sites.
Vaughan Gething: That's exactly what we expect. There is, of course, the challenge of making sure that free parking on hospital sites does not turn into people parking for free on hospital sites, but not actually making use of the healthcare services in that hospital. So, the challenge is how we make sure that people who are there receive the free parking that they should expect. I'm interested in what the...
Vaughan Gething: I'll deal with your first point about the time it's taken. I'm very proud that the Welsh Labour commitment has been delivered. We were not able to deliver it as quickly as we had wanted to because of the long-term contracts that existed—if you were listening to my first answer you would have heard me say that—and there was a practical point about the cost to the public purse in buying out...
Vaughan Gething: I won't rehearse the challenge about whether I'm directly running the health service in north Wales through special measures or not; we keep on coming back to this. But the reality is that the performance within emergency care in north Wales is not acceptable, and that is the direct message that the health board have had. In terms of the reasons for it, and factors within it, some of the...
Vaughan Gething: Well, that isn't quite an accurate reflection of what I said or what the First Minister said either. I certainly never said, 'We just don't know what's going on within the emergency care system.' We do know that there's a challenge about clinical leadership and engagement and buy-in. And, actually, if you look across north Wales you can't really distinguish the take that comes into Ysbyty...
Vaughan Gething: Again, I don't think that's a fair reflection on the fact of what I've set out. You need to understand what is specific to each particular site to address, but, actually, there is nothing that explains the significant difference in performance between the three sites within north Wales, and, actually, when you go beyond that, then, the differences in different parts of Wales too. That's why...
Vaughan Gething: Actually, if you look at what we've done over the last two years, we have made real inroads into agency and locum spend. I made a choice to introduce not just a cap on rates, but a range of other measures that the service had offered in terms of some policy choices. That's meant we've spent at least £30 million less on agency than in the last financial year, but we know that we need to do...
