Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm happy to move the motion before us. Our vision in 'A Healthier Wales' is that everyone has a longer, healthier and happier life, that we're able to remain active, independent in our own homes for as long as possible. And that, of course, requires a whole-system approach to transformation. The primary care model for Wales is a whole-system approach; a...
Vaughan Gething: Our approach promotes seamless working between partners at community level, through our primary care clusters, providing a health and well-being system focused on the needs of their local population. Our clusters bring together the health board, the local authorities and community-based services to improve health and well-being together, not just a service focused on the NHS. And that is a...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It was interesting to hear a range of views today about how we do want to see improvement in health and care services here in Wales. And of course much of that is about the stability of general practice at the heart, as I set out in my opening. I'm delighted to reconfirm that 96 per cent of GP training places in Wales were filled in the first round. That's...
Vaughan Gething: No. And I'm also happy to point out that, on inverse care, both Aneurin Bevan and the former Cwm Taf health boards are taking a lead on addressing that to make sure that we have equity and quality across our health and care system. Finally, to turn to the comments by Hefin David—not a medical doctor—I do recall visiting Bargoed Hall and Bryntirion with you a couple of years ago, where...
Vaughan Gething: Formally.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. The report on Cwm Taf maternity services was published just last week. It shook everyone in this Chamber, as it should have done. The independent royal colleges review that I commissioned identified a range of failings and shone a light on poor care and distressing experiences for women and their families. I fully recognise the seriousness of the maternity review...
Vaughan Gething: I do, though, want to set out what I will not do today. I will not be drawn into trying to unpick a selection of reports over the last five years of our NHS. Each of those reports was upsetting in its own right. Each one was incredibly difficult for the people affected. There were lessons to be learned from all of them: lessons for our NHS; lessons for our approach to intervention and...
Vaughan Gething: Diolch, Llywydd. Next week is Dementia Awareness Week. In February last year, I launched the dementia action plan for Wales. The plan sets out our vision for Wales to be a dementia-friendly nation that recognises the rights of people with dementia to feel valued and to live as independently as possible in their communities. The plan drew heavily upon the experience of people living with...
Vaughan Gething: As part of this work we are seeing examples of flexible and enabling respite support, such as flexible outreach, and offering respite options beyond the traditional respite admission to a care home. At the same time, we see an increase in support for those who are in care homes or a hospital setting so that people affected by dementia receive personalised care and support no matter where they...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the questions. I set out in my statement and reiterated the importance of diagnosis. It was a particular issue of concern, both from the wider community living with dementia, as well as Assembly Members, in the run-up to the plan. The commitments in the plan remain, about our expectation to see year-on-year increases through the plan. We also have a mid-point review to...
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for his comments and questions. I will deal with a range of the specifics that you've provided. But on your last point about the Welsh language provision, in the statement, I've set out the work that has been done jointly, first with the Welsh Language Commissioner and the Alzheimer's Society, and that task and finish group will help to inform us more about what we need to...
Vaughan Gething: Yes, I'm happy to give the commitment that you asked for at the end about making sure that we do continue to take forward the commitments that have been made, and in particular the point about first language provision, because as I said in answer to Dai Lloyd, this is not a preference, it's a care need, because actually you can't access the care that you need if you don't have the ability to...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the questions and comments. I think, turning to your point about GP clusters first, I think that, when we consider the action that's been taken through the regional partnership boards that we're looking to promote, lots of that activity is taking place within primary care. So, having more GP-led memory clinics and the focus on diagnosis needs to be accompanied by an improvement...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, acting Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm happy to move the motion before us. The chief medical officer took up his post here in August 2016. He was attracted to come to Wales by the prudent healthcare agenda that we had set out upon. I have asked him to ensure that the prudent agenda does not stall, but continues to make a bigger, wider and more consistent difference, and therefore I'm...
Vaughan Gething: That is why we've invested in Health and Care Research Wales to enable us to put in place resources and infrastructure to support that research community, industry and people here in Wales. What is happening in Wales today across various fields of health and social care research is something that we should be genuinely proud of. NHS Wales is on the cusp of realising the significant benefits...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I want to thank Members for their largely thoughtful contributions to today's debate. I want to thank Dai Lloyd for his speech and, in particular, reiterating the point that was taken up by some other Members about the importance of vaccination—his own direct experience as a GP, but also parents like myself who have gone and made sure that our children are...
Vaughan Gething: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm very happy to take the opportunity to respond to the Petitions Committee's report and the debate today. Tackling dependence on prescription-only and over-the-counter medicines remains a priority for this Government. The budget for substance misuse has increased to almost £53 million a year to provide a range of services and actions to respond to all forms of drug use,...
Vaughan Gething: Recommendation 5 requested an update on our actions in responding to recommendation 8 of the Health and Social Care Committee's inquiry into alcohol and substance misuse, which was published in August 2015. I can confirm that the All Wales Therapeutics and Toxicology Centre has produced or contributed to a range of relevant guidance and good practice on prescription-only and over-the-counter...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you to John Griffiths for bringing forward this topic for the short debate. The Welsh Government, of course, recognises the significant burden of respiratory disease on society—the impact it has on the daily lives of people with chronic respiratory conditions, the impact it has on respiratory care services within the national health service,...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was placed into special measures in June 2015. The significant concerns at the time centred on leadership and governance, maternity services, mental health, re-connecting with the public and primary care out-of-hours services. Progress has been made in each of these areas. Maternity services and primary care...
