Vaughan Gething: I can't hear Mick. I can't lip read, either.
Vaughan Gething: I think it's a point well made, actually, by the Member, and I recognise his longstanding and continuing interest in the real public health harms caused by gambling. I don't think now is the time to go into the division of powers that exist, but we do still need to understand what that means and we do understand that there has been a significant increase in online gambling, as the Member sets...
Vaughan Gething: As the Member knows, I'm here to answer questions as the health Minister in the Welsh Government. I'm very well aware of my responsibilities for the constituency that I've had the privilege to be directly elected to represent twice to this Parliament. And as the Member knows, there is plenty of scientific evidence and advice around the removal and transfer of mud within an estuary...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. I have today issued a written statement on the two recent outbreaks centred on meat and food processing sites in north Wales. We're keeping both of these under very close observation and management. All necessary action to protect the public is and will continue to be taken.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the series of questions. On the broader point about advice within the sector, as with every other sector of the economy, those who would have carried on operating would have had to consider how they could remain COVID compliant. There have been conversations with both the Food Standards Agency for their role in food hygiene and the Health and Safety Executive about the way that...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question from Dawn Bowden, and to be fair, Dawn has raised consistently with me over a period of time concerns about that broader community transmission rate within Merthyr Tydfil. The difficulty we face with Merthyr Tydfil is that the scale and the spread is different to the two sites in north Wales. The numbers are different and we're clear that they're centred or...
Vaughan Gething: On the second point I don't think there is a conflict, because there's the point there about the people who are directly running and delivering that service thinking about the adjustments they need to make for those assessments to continue, and that's actually something that, to be fair to the local government family, they've managed throughout the period of the pandemic. And there's more of...
Vaughan Gething: Yes, I'm well aware that there's a further 2 Sisters plant within your constituency. It's been part of our conversations with the trade union side officials, and part of the reason why it's important for me to have a conversation with the sector, including, of course, employers. So, it will be myself and Lesley Griffiths, with her ministerial responsibilities, engaging in that work. It builds...
Vaughan Gething: It is impossible to say when NHS Wales could operate as it did before the COVID-19 pandemic. None of us can say with certainty when the pandemic will end. We will, though, as I have stated previously, adapt NHS practice to take account of innovation and improvement during the pandemic.
Vaughan Gething: Well, I think there are a couple of important points from the variety of comments. Obviously, I don't agree with every single comment the Member's made, but when it comes to cancer services, we've already made clear that urgent cancer services were always available during the pandemic, even when other parts of the NHS were closed down, following my decision on 13 March. So, we are looking to...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. It's an important matter about cross-border care, both for those who come into Wales, in particular in primary care, but also some hospital treatment that takes place as a regular, normal part of NHS treatment for Welsh residents in English hospitals. It's particularly the case for Powys and for Betsi Cadwaladr where elements of care are regularly commissioned, and...
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for the question. Of course, we want to see health and social care workers able to continue to work during the summer, and I recognise that childcare arrangements are part of it. It would be helpful for me if the Member would provide the example she's provided today in some more detail to me. I'd be delighted to receive some correspondence between yourself to myself and the...
Vaughan Gething: I am of course aware that COVID-19 has had a real impact on non-COVID-19 care in north Wales and across the whole country, and patients are waiting for appointments and treatment. However, as well as hospitals postponing appointments, as we discussed earlier I am aware that during the pandemic some patients have elected to defer their appointments. Progressively introducing more NHS activity...
Vaughan Gething: Well, the First Minister and I have acknowledged, not just today but on regular occasions, the concern we have for the significant backlog that is being created in NHS demand and need. We've talked at various points—in fact, at early stages during the pandemic—about the concern over some people opting not to come in for treatment. One of the earliest points that I made was the fall-off in...
Vaughan Gething: Well, obviously, as the Member knows, I'm not in a position to comment on the individual concerns that he raises, and I'm sure he'll be raising those with the treating health board. It's a matter of fact, not opinion, that we're restarting NHS services and that urgent cancer care has always been available. However, there will have been times when operational matters, such as people isolating...
Vaughan Gething: Ordinarily, Llywydd, questions from Janet Finch-Saunders are for the deputy, but I think it's clear today this is for me. When it comes to the interim report that I still want to have published before we go into recess, it plainly won't be going into the level of individual detail that the Member questions. What we will do, though, is we'll want to try to understand what has happened, both in...
Vaughan Gething: I'll deal with the last point first. When it comes to improving testing turnaround, it's a real concern of myself and the Government and the health service. We have an improvement programme in place identifying areas to make a practical difference to the operational delivery to speed up testing turnaround times. There's already action in place in terms of courier services and more action...
Vaughan Gething: Well, as you'll recall from listening to the First Minister earlier, we continue to talk with the UK Government to try to make sure that social care workers in Wales receive the full £500. I do not think that it would be a good day for HMRC if they picked the pocket of poorly paid workers in the social care sector, and we will look to exhaust all of the avenues of discussion before making...
Vaughan Gething: I don't think it is a factually accurate conclusion to reach that the Government and our partners did not prioritise the social care sector in terms of the amount of support we've provided, both in extra cash support on an emergency basis, and the further amount of support that we're looking to find at a hard-pushed time as well. We've also provided significant amounts of personal protective...
Vaughan Gething: I think there are three points that I'd make in response to those. The final one is to do with the point about GPs being informed. It should be available as part of the patient record; it should be available to general practice. And if the Member has individual instances that he's aware of within his constituency, then I'd be very pleased to see those to make sure the system is working as it...
