Vaughan Gething: I quite agree. I’m very happy to publicly acknowledge and thank staff in the NHS Wales Informatics Service, not only for the way in which they have made the case for, and then applied, the additional cyber security measures that we’ve provided across the service, and not only for the fact that they did actually uptake the security updates that apparently did not take place in NHS England,...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. As you know, I’m not the First Minister but I’m sure he’ll consider your request. There is already a review, as you’d expect, to take place within the service here to learn lessons from what worked and why and what more we need to do in the future, and it’s important that we do that—to understand the level of risk that we carry, to understand what we do...
Vaughan Gething: Formally, Chair.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Chair. I’m grateful to Plaid Cymru for tabling this debate today. As a Government, our amendment makes clear: since devolution, we’ve seen a significant increase in the numbers in our medical workforce, but this Government is far from complacent. Despite the successes that we highlight, we recognise there are still challenges for some medical specialities and some geographical...
Vaughan Gething: I don’t think there was much to agree upon in terms of Michelle Brown’s contribution, but we’re really serious about protecting and standing up for the national health service—it’s not about electoral calculus, it’s about our commitment and our values, not just in creating the service, but in sustaining it for the future. And I recognise the challenges that Lee Waters outlined...
Vaughan Gething: Directions and guidance are in place in hospitals for patients, staff and visitors in relation to healthy eating. These include mandatory food and fluid nutrition standards for patients, mandatory healthy food and drink vending standards and guidance for food and drink served to staff and visitors.
Vaughan Gething: Healthy lifestyles are key to improving health and well-being and reducing the risk of a range of preventable diseases. ‘Taking Wales Forward’ commits us to embed healthy living throughout our programmes and our healthy and active strategy will outline further measures to improve health and well-being.
Vaughan Gething: My priorities for the NHS in south-east Wales, as in the rest of Wales, are to improve health outcomes, access to services, patient experience, prevent poor health and reduce health inequalities.
Vaughan Gething: The local health board are working hard to make the necessary improvements to mental health services across north Wales. A new mental health strategy for north Wales was agreed by their board on 20 April and has been endorsed by their six local authority partners.
Vaughan Gething: I expect all patients to be seen in order of clinical priority and within Welsh waiting times targets. Improvements have been seen over the last 12 months and I expect to see further improvements going forward.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m happy to move the motion on the paper before us today. As all of us recognise, our health and well-being depend on many factors: family, relationships, work, play, housing, education and money, to name but a few. The ways in which we manage when our health is affected are numerous. We know that we often feel better after a walk in the park, or...
Vaughan Gething: Yes, of course.
Vaughan Gething: Yes, it’s a good example of the range of services that exist right across the country—local opportunities and how people are linked to those opportunities to improve their general health and well-being, and not a reliance on medication and medical intervention. It’s also a good example of the way we de-medicalise the service and, in particular, the way that healthcare support workers...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’d like to start by thanking all Members who have contributed for their considered and constructive contributions. This isn’t an area where the Government has a hard-and-fast view on what work and must work. As I indicated, we’re looking at developing an evidence base based on examples of what already takes place in Wales, and the evidence of what...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. On 12 April this year, I published the genomics for precision medicine strategy consultation. The strategy outlines our plan to harness new genomics technologies to improve the health and prosperity of the people of Wales. Through the strategy, we want people across Wales to have access to quicker, more accurate diagnosis and better information to support...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the comments and questions. It’s interesting that you started with antimicrobial resistance—your sage colleague to your immediate right was part of the cross-party group on science and, actually, this was a subject of the conversation that we had last week with both David Rees and Simon Thomas—so, germane challenges for the here and now, as well as for the future, in the...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the comments and questions. I will deal with your last point first. In many areas of scientific endeavour and research, we recognise there are real risks and challenges for the United Kingdom in the Brexit negotiations. We have been upfront about that in the discussions with your party, and in the White Paper that we have and in the ongoing conversations that will need to take...
Vaughan Gething: It's an interesting point you make, and I'm delighted that there is something that Lee Waters has stood up and said he is genuinely excited by. But, you know, you raise an important point about how we do target our best areas to realise real gain, not just in health terms, but, you're right, about the economic sector. And, of course, the strategy was launched in 2013 jointly by the then...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for those comments and questions. I think it’s useful, when we talk of precision medicine, to understand that, in the past, we thought there’d be big, blockbuster drugs or treatments to deliver a wide-scale improvement across the whole population or across whole groups of people. We understand more and more that that’s unlikely to be the way in which medicine develops. A range...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I really am pleased to respond to today’s debate across Members, and I thank people for the thoughtful way in which they’ve approached the issue. We, of course, recognise the importance of this issue for people right across Wales, and I’m happy to say that, together with the NHS, the Welsh Government has made major advancements in the treatment and...
