Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the First Minister for his answer, but does he acknowledge that there's widespread concern about the capacity for certain sections of NHS management in Wales to deal effectively, particularly with the handling of complaints and concerns and with whistleblowing? And does the First Minister agree with me that, in addition to the legislation that he's mentioned, we now need a...
Helen Mary Jones: Trefnydd, I'd like to ask the Minister for Health and Social Services—I'm pleased to see he's here today—to consider making perhaps a written statement about the situation with regard to the midwifery-led unit at Withybush General Hospital. You'll be aware, and he'll be aware, that there is concern that we're going to face a situation where, if women need services at night, they're going...
Helen Mary Jones: I'd like to thank the Minister for his statement and for the additional information he's provided in response to Angela Burns. Like Angela Burns, I was struck by the very high quality of this report and, as the Minister and others have said, we're very grateful to the task and finish group for all the work that they've put in and, indeed, for the staff who work in very high-pressured...
Helen Mary Jones: I'd like to thank the Minister very much for her statement. As Janet Finch-Saunders has said, I'd just like to reassure her that the cross-party consensus around putting our children first, around these looked-after children being, in a sense, our children as a National Assembly and a national Parliament—that we feel an individual responsibility for them in line with the local corporate...
Helen Mary Jones: I would like to hear the Minister's views today about how we can ensure that the broader public services, not just social services, take their responsibility to looked-after children seriously. I'm thinking of the health service, education services—we know there are still some real issues with looked-after children being discriminated against in schools—and housing. Does the Minister feel...
Helen Mary Jones: 8. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools Programme in Carmarthenshire? OAQ54172
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for her reply. I'd like to suggest, Minister, this afternoon—to offer you the opportunity to congratulate the governors, the local authority, staff and school pupils at Pontyberem school, which has had substantial investment from the twenty-first century schools fund and is going to be reopened on Monday. I know that you've received an invitation and,...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, the latest figures show that the median response time for amber calls has more than doubled, from around 12 minutes to around 26 minutes, over the last three years. Do you think that matters?
Helen Mary Jones: I don't think my concern is about the overall approach, but my concern is about the knock-on effects for particular conditions. A freedom of information request from my office showed 4,038 patients waiting longer than an hour for an ambulance to arrive when they had a stroke, between January 2018 and March this year. Strokes are a life-threatening emergency; when they're not life-threatening,...
Helen Mary Jones: Indeed you did, Minister, and I suspect you will carry on needing to respond to those questions until we've got answers that our constituents are wholly satisfied with. You know how devastating, I know—there's no need for me to tell you how devastating the after-effects off stroke can be. You also know how important it is that that whole pathway, from the emergency call to the actual...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd, and it's my pleasure and privilege to present this legislative proposal to the Senedd today. It has been a bit of a habit amongst politicians in Wales sometimes to say, 'We have too many managers in the NHS; they're not doing their jobs properly'. I've probably been guilty of that in the past myself, but the truth is that we will not deliver the kinds of services that...
Helen Mary Jones: We would need core competencies set at every level, and those competencies would be based on this value-based training. A professional body could require continuous professional development to ensure that those managing our services are able to keep up to date with all the requirements on them and all the developments that go around them. Some, particularly middle management managers, say to...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I only have two minutes to respond, so I can't possibly respond to every single point that people have raised. But I'm very grateful indeed for the level of support there has been across the Chamber, and I'm also grateful, actually, to the Minister for acknowledging that this is an attempt to address issues that are real and are meaningful, and for his willingness to...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. I'd like to thank the Conservative group and Angela Burns for bringing this motion before us today. We will be supporting the motion unamended. I'd also like to associate myself with the thanks that Angela's made to the RNIB for very useful and powerful information, and I would agree with everything that Angela said in her contribution and I won't trouble the Assembly by...
Helen Mary Jones: Will the Minister make a statement on ambulance response times over the last three years?
Helen Mary Jones: 3. Will the Minister make a statement on planned improvements to rail services in Mid and West Wales? OAQ54225
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his answer, particularly with regard to capacity. The issue of overcrowding on the railways was raised with the First Minister in this place yesterday. Unfortunately, that's not an isolated concern. Constituents from across the mid and west region have been contacting me citing real concerns about the line that runs across mid Wales to Shrewsbury in...
Helen Mary Jones: 2. What assessment has been made of the impact of Brexit on the car manufacturing industry? OAQ54226
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Counsel General for his response. He'll be aware that, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, 80 per cent of the cars assembled in the UK are sold abroad. Around 58 per cent of those are exported to the EU. As the Counsel General said, if we don't get some sort of trade deal, the tariffs on car exports could be very serious—up to 10 per...
Helen Mary Jones: Would you therefore be opposed to anybody under the age of 18 being allowed to join the British military?
