Carwyn Jones: I have to say to the leader of the opposition, I had experience, as did my constituents, of this when the town that I represent was branded as some kind of suicide capital, where we had predatory journalists arriving from London who were trying to question young people outside the local college and trying to suggest to them that it was better to be dead than to live in the area. Those are the...
Carwyn Jones: I’m grateful to the Member for this question, because they are the unsung heroes of the health service in many ways. They work in the community and in primary care, and, of course, they deliver a lot of preventative care, which is difficult to measure in itself, because how do you measure something that prevents something that would have happened in the future? Of course, they help to deal...
Carwyn Jones: I will join, of course, the Member in congratulating the Member for Aberavon. I am not sure that harmony will reign in his house over this evening given what was revealed to us in terms of information. But he’s right: the challenge that faces us in the future is, as people get older—yes, many of those people will be fitter when they’re older, but, inevitably, people get a number of...
Carwyn Jones: Yes, that’s right, and that will be part of the public health Bill. It’s important that any nonsensical obstacles are done away with. But we know, of course, that pharmacies play a vitally important role in ensuring that people receive advice without having to go to see their general practitioner, and also, of course, we would wish to extend the services available from pharmacies...
Carwyn Jones: Yes, but first of all we would expect local health boards to see what works in other health boards and then use that best practice, and apply that best practice, in their own areas. Where there’s evidence of that practice working well, then clearly we would want them to look at it to see if it’s appropriate in their own area and, if so, to implement that. When it comes to CPD, many...
Carwyn Jones: Gwnaf. Rydym yn ymestyn y cynllun rhyddhad dros dro, a oedd i fod i ddod i ben ym mis Mawrth y flwyddyn nesaf, am flwyddyn arall. Yna, byddwn yn datblygu cynllun parhaol newydd, a fydd ar waith o fis Ebrill 2018 ymlaen.
Carwyn Jones: Well, I have to say first of all, with regard to my own town, which I know very well, there are at least three different groups of traders who don’t agree with each other, and that is one of the weaknesses the town faces. Secondly, she mentions empty premises. The biggest problem with empty premises in Bridgend is the intransigence of landlords—landlords who will not rent, or are only...
Carwyn Jones: Well, we’ve already put £98 million into the rate relief scheme. There is bound to be a threshold, unfortunately, and those who are, as they would see it, at the wrong end of the threshold, yes, they will have to pay business rates. What we cannot do is introduce a system where everybody gets business rate relief and nobody pays business rates. Like any business, businesses have to take...
Carwyn Jones: We are working closely with the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Local Health Board. Support will be directed by the Welsh Government in agreement with the health board as to what assistance it requires.
Carwyn Jones: Only one health board is under special measures, namely Betsi Cadwaladr. We are most confident about the way in which we have ensured that Betsi Cadwaladr can turn around. So, what we have targeted in terms of the other health boards will ensure that we see improvements to those, in order to avoid, of course, any situation where they would have to go in the same direction as Betsi Cadwaladr.
Carwyn Jones: Yes, I will, and at the end of July there was a reduction of 78 per cent in the number of people waiting over eight weeks for one of the specified diagnostic tests, compared to July 2015.
Carwyn Jones: Well, if you look at the figures, if we look at the 62-day performance for cancer, more people are starting their treatment within the target time of the 62-day pathway for cancer. The same thing applies to the 31-day pathway—80.4 per cent higher. If we look at 12-hour waits in A&E last year, those figures have reduced by 63 per cent since March of this year. So, we are seeing great...
Carwyn Jones: I think I’ve already answered that question when I gave the statistics in terms of the 62-day performance and the 31-day performance. Sometimes, of course, clinicians tell me that it’s not that easy to start treatment within 62 days because of the nature of the cancer itself, its position in the body and, indeed, the need to look very carefully at having the most targeted treatment for...
Carwyn Jones: We’ll continue to support health and social care organisations in Wales through our quarterly national seasonal planning meetings, which support their seasonal planning arrangements. And, of course, as part of that, preparedness for the forthcoming winter period is paramount.
Carwyn Jones: We do; the Choose Well campaign has been doing that for many years and, indeed, there’s an app available for people who want to access it. We encourage people to look, in the first place, at a pharmacist, then to look at a community nurse, and then to think about the GP. It’s quite right to say to people, ‘Don’t default to the A&E department first or, indeed, to a GP first.’ So,...
Carwyn Jones: No, not at all, bearing in mind that, according to the report itself, approximately 90 per cent of the services are working well. There are some parts of the service that need improvement—that’s true—and that’s why we welcome such reports, so that we can identify where there is room for improvement. But we know, according to the Nuffield report, that there is very little difference...
Carwyn Jones: How can I refuse such an offer? In principle, I’d like to accept that, because I’m interested in the work that the Member has described. I can see the passion that she displays in advocating the work that she has seen them do. I’d like to see it for myself.
Carwyn Jones: Well, as regards the numbers, there isn’t a shortage. There are more doctors now than we had in 2005.
Carwyn Jones: Don’t say that it isn’t true; I’ll give you the figures so that the information is correct. In 2005, there were 1,849 GPs in Wales and now there are 1,997. In the Betsi Cadwaladr area, there were 422 in 2005 and 437 in 2015. And the same is true in terms of the significant increase in the number of doctors in hospitals. Having said that, of course, there will be a campaign launched at...
Carwyn Jones: I would argue that we’re already doing that through the collaborative group in mid Wales, which has worked extremely well. I would expect the work that has been done there to be work that could be transferred and disseminated throughout the whole of Wales. So, that work has already started.
