Vaughan Gething: Well, that work is ongoing with the care sector. They are partners that come around the table, and I have heard the comments by Care Forum Wales, for example, but, actually, whenever there have been home closures, and there have been, each time, health and social care have managed to actually help people to move into different accommodation. We want more stability in the care sector,...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. On 6 January this year, I published the refreshed ‘Heart Conditions Delivery Plan’. This plan reaffirms our commitment to reduce preventable heart disease and to ensure that people affected by any kind of heart condition have timely access to high-quality care. And that high-quality care should be delivered regardless of where people live. Increasingly, we expect to...
Vaughan Gething: I am proud to say that NHS Wales is making big strides forward. Cardiac care and survival rates continue to improve. I hope that Members across the Chamber will join me in acknowledging the hard work and dedication of NHS staff and other stakeholders, which have made these improvements possible and are essential to our continued success in improving more lives and saving more lives.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for that series of questions. I know you like asking lots of questions, and I don’t have any issue with that; I just want to try and get through them in the time allotted. I do welcome your recognition upfront about the role of staff in delivering very real improvements by NHS Wales. I know, every now and again, the tenor of the debate around health is about the challenges that...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for those comments. I think, on your last point, we broadly have the right capacity within our system now. You’ll see that waiting times have improved significantly in our two centres in south Wales and that in itself was a challenge. Members here will be aware that at various points a significant number of people were sent into the English system because we didn’t have the...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for those comments. I recognise your consistent interest in the area of diet, health, and exercise. It’s not just around diabetes, as many of the risk factors we talk about in diabetes are risk factors in a range of other conditions, including heart disease and heart conditions as well. We recognise the significant impact that diet and exercise have in a whole range of conditions,...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the comments and questions, and in particular for the welcome for the plan and again, the recognition of progress that we have made and intend to make here in Wales. I’ll deal with the last point first about research and screening. Of course, there’s a range of research that takes place across our university and health board sectors. Whenever people mention screening, I...
Vaughan Gething: I indicated that it was April, but actually it’s May when I expect to be able to publish the new plan. I don’t want to completely pre-empt tomorrow’s debate either, which you’re going to be leading on a new legislative proposal, but some of this is about how we deliver more lifesaving skills and where and how we’re going to be able to do that. And there is a balance between what we...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am pleased to have the opportunity to set out again what we are already doing to improve survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, which includes many of the aspects in Suzy Davies’s private Member’s Bill proposal. However, whilst I do support the ambitions in the proposal in principle, I can’t support the motion as I don’t believe that imposing a...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I’m pleased to update Members on the outcome of the independent evaluation of the clinical response model for emergency ambulance services. Members will know that the clinical response model pilot commenced on 1 October 2015. There was widespread agreement that the previous model was not supported by clinical evidence and made poor use of the emergency...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the series of questions and comments. I’ll start with some of your points about clinicians in other parts of the health service and the point about delays in treatment, or otherwise. There is, of course, a challenge about seeing the ambulance service as part of the whole system, and not just that whole patient—[Inaudible.]—partly about the ambulance service. And that’s...
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for the series of questions that he’s asked. I accept that Members will, of course, be interested not just in the red category, where we’re meeting and sustaining our performance targets, and where there is a time measure, but also in the amber category as well, because we recognise that those people require a response, and it is a blue light response to all those...
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for her comments and questions. I remember, when I was appointed to this department as the then Deputy Minister, it was a remarkably difficult time. Members will recall the regular occurrence of monthly figures that were debated in this Chamber. It was a very uncomfortable place to be. There was harsh criticism of the service and demands for action and improvements....
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for the points that she made, but she asked a question that she knows is absolutely impossible to answer: how many amber categories could, or would, be red in the condition that they were in when they arrived at the hospital? I’ve recognised, and the evaluation recognises, and the direction I’ve given, both to the Emergency Ambulance Services Committee and to the Welsh...
Vaughan Gething: I just don’t accept the point that the new model means that people are being missed. Actually, the new model ensures that people with the greatest level of need receive a response where there’s clear evidence that a fast response will make a difference to their outcomes. I will keep on saying: I will be guided by the evidence, the very best available clinical evidence and advice on what...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. We launched the Welsh implementation plan for rare diseases in February 2015 and established the rare disease implementation group. These actions reinforce our commitment to promoting equity of access to diagnosis, treatment and support to patients. The annual report, providing an update on progress, was published on 14 February.
Vaughan Gething: Yes, I’m happy to give him that assurance. In fact, yesterday we published the CARIS data, I’ll tell you what that is—It’s the Congenital Anomaly Register and Information Service. Now, we established that in Wales in 1998, and that is part of what helps us to lead the field. It maintains information on all babies born to mothers in Wales, and that information is held about them if...
Vaughan Gething: No, I wouldn’t say I’ve had a satisfactory response from the UK Government. You’ll note that, after the cross-party Members’ debate we had in this Chamber, I undertook again to press the UK Government, and I’m awaiting a further response. Thus far, the UK Government have been resistant to having a public inquiry, and I recognise that that will be a continual problem for the families...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. The report recognises the continuing good progress being made. Working with Public Health Wales, health boards and the clinical networks, we are using the report’s recommendations to inform action to further improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the delivery of this specialist orthodontic service here in Wales.
Vaughan Gething: I accept what the Member is saying. Hywel Dda is one of our problem areas within an overall improving national picture. Hywel Dda itself has made further progress in the last few years, but there’s actually been a significant backlog built up within Hywel Dda. Some of that is about making more effective and efficient use of the specialist service that exists. It’s also about making sure...
