Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. I'm very aware of the situation in Solva. I can't go very far without somebody bringing it up with me when I'm home. I'm pleased to say that I met with the chair and chief executive of Hywel Dda health board on Thursday, and I was able to discuss this issue with them. As you noted, there has been an engagement with the community already. It is very difficult, because...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Under their contract reform arrangements, dental practices focus on prevention and needs-based care rather than providing routine check-ups every six months to all patients. As a result of this shift, more than 123,000 new patients have gained access to an NHS dentist thus far this year.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: It's 123,000.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Those are 123,000 new appointments that have actually taken place. There is a lot of noise around this, but these are the facts, that actually we have 74,000 new patients who are adults who have been seen, and 49,000 new children who have been seen who weren't being seen before. Of course, when you introduce something new, there is a little bit of difficulty and tension in...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The Welsh Government is committed to improving healthcare services in Wales, and improving provision for people with poor eye health is a priority. This work is already under way through implementation of new optometry contracted terms of service, which I announced in a written statement issued in September last year.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. The new Wales general ophthalmic services voucher value reflects the actual cost of providing services and glasses through the introduction of appropriately costed fees. What we have made sure is that those most in need continue to receive the most appropriate service, and I would encourage the Member to look again at Optometry Wales's website because actually, they did put...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We are increasing staffing numbers through a range of recruitment and attraction approaches, including international recruitment and record investment in education and training programmes. Improving staff retention in the NHS and the sustainability of our workforce is paramount.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Well, it is true that we have more staff than ever employed in the NHS in Wales. What you will be aware of is that, actually, we have never seen demands on the service like this, and if we're honest, that demand is only going to go in one direction as we have an ageing population. The demand is going to increase. So, I think we've got to be very honest about the strain on...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Welsh Government continues to work with stakeholders to improve optometry services. The intended benefits brought forward by the new optometry contracted terms of service will provide a service framework fit for the future. This will be underpinned by the continued education and training of our primary care optometry workforce.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. This area is one of the areas I think we should be most proud of where we've been really innovative in Wales. What we're doing is using the skills of highly skilled workers who had those innate skills; these are people who've been very well trained, but we weren't using some of their skills. We've upskilled them even further in order to make sure that they can, as you say,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. Today I would like to announce the publication of the cancer services improvement plan by NHS Wales. The plan sets out how the NHS, collectively, will respond to the quality statement for cancer and our wider commitments to improving diagnostic and end-of-life care for people affected by cancer. It follows on from several important debates we have held over the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We also asked for a focus on implementing the 21 nationally agreed pathways for Wales. This is at the heart of how we will ensure that patients get the right care wherever they are in Wales. These standardised pathways help us to focus on improving consistency and quality of care, and they include the new non-specific symptom pathway for Wales, which plugs into our rapid diagnostic centres....
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Russell. I'm pleased that you agree it's a good thing that we've got dates and goals and targets, and I think it is important to hold people to account; you hold me to account, I hold the health boards to account. So, it is important to have those in, and I am sure you will note the workforce implementation plan that's been published today also has very clear targets against...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. I think a lot of people, unfortunately, find out that they have cancer as they go to emergency departments—the symptoms don’t show up until the last minute, and obviously that’s very difficult for them, and part of what we’re talking about in this plan is ensuring that there are acute oncology services available in our emergency departments. This is an NHS plan,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. I think we've got to be aware that one in two people are likely to get cancer, and so we're all touched by cancer in some way or another. And so, it is important that we do our very best to get a better understanding. Every day, we're getting new developments, new technologies and new genetic improvements. So, all of these things I hope will make sure that we just keep on...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Well, there are of course lots of campaigns that are already under way in relation to less survivable cancers by some of those organisations. What I'm not going to do is—. I've just published a plan; we're not going to start bolting new things onto the plan. This has been developed by people, it's been worked on by organisations across Wales, by the NHS. So, what's there...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Well, I'm really keen on making sure that we use the most up-to-date technology to try and improve our systems. That is why, already, we've spent £86 million on these new radiotherapy machines; that's why we've spent £3 million on an electronic records system; and we've also got new robotic surgery technology that is already in place and working and getting lots of...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Well, you're right, and I think we just have to constantly be trying to learn from what works. So, for example, we are now targeting screening when it comes to bowel cancer, and people are sent a faecal immunochemical test, and it's been really interesting to see that people seem to be more willing to use the FIT test that they can do at home, rather than coming into a...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. A written statement has literally just been issued on this topic, but I’m happy to set out some aspects of the offer to NHS workers in order to stave off industrial action, if that is helpful.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. And as you know, we've been negotiating very diligently over a very long period of time, very intense negotiations, and I'm really pleased that we were able to come to a conclusion on Thursday night. That was put, certainly to the officials within those unions, and the vast majority of them, I'm delighted to say, called off their industrial action, which is not...
