Vaughan Gething: Thank you for those questions. As you highlight, and as I said in my statement, there are more than 100,000 people in Wales affected by this group of conditions. On top of that, of course, there are their families and carers; there will be an impact on their lives too. I’ll just try and run through your questions. I think with the last point, I certainly tried to answer the point about...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question and the focus point there on, as you say, the third most common neurological condition, and that is part of what we expect to see moving forward with this plan, because you can’t say you want a plan for an improvement in these services if you then ignore the third most common condition. I am pleased to hear directly from you that the meeting that we’ve had has...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. Bladder and bowel problems can affect people of all ages for a variety of reasons. They can cause significant distress, inconvenience and impact considerably on the lives of those affected. These types of problems may cross a number of specialities, and I’m pleased to note that NHS Wales is taking action to co-ordinate services, for example, through the work of...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the follow-up question. I’ve actually had a number of meetings with my colleague the Member for Cardiff Central, Jenny Rathbone, on this issue, because of the particular challenges about women who suffer faecal incontinence injuries during childbirth, where the significant problem is. I don’t quite recognise the issue that the Member raises about this being an issue that...
Vaughan Gething: I thank you for the question and raising the issue about careless undertakings in residential facilities, not just within hospitals or homecare based. Actually, there is a challenge here about what is a not unusual process that’s undertaken, and actually it’s relatively simple; the challenge here is about how blocked catheters are dealt with and the proper care. So, I’ll certainly take...
Vaughan Gething: In July, I issued a written statement detailing the plans for Health Education and Improvement Wales. The legislation to establish HEIW as a special health authority was laid on 13 September and, subject to the will of the Assembly, is due to come into force on 5 October.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. I think it’s a helpful opportunity to clarify the point and the purpose of the board, because the board isn’t going to be a representational board, made up of different interest groups. If we do that, we’ll have different groups fighting and competing with each other, rather than actually having a board with sufficient expertise to actually undertake the...
Vaughan Gething: I recognise that some people do wait unacceptably long times, and there’s a real challenge in long waiters in particular in north Wales, and the ability of the health board to have the appropriate capacity, including the intensive therapy unit capacity for those people who are more complex in terms of their needs. So, it is not an acceptable position. It is a matter that I have taken up...
Vaughan Gething: There’s more than one part to the comments and questions that have been made, and, actually, in terms of improvement this year, I expect improvement to be made this year. I’m expecting the orthopaedic plan from the north Wales health board to be provided within the next month. That’s what I expect, and I expect that to be properly judged then as to when it will deliver action. The...
Vaughan Gething: You may not like to hear it, Rhun, but it’s the honest truth about where we are compared to other parts of the United Kingdom as well. You’ll note, from The Guardian piece that you quoted from, that, actually, it does set out that there are significant challenges in other parts of England as well. It is not the case to say that Wales is uniquely bad in this case. I have to say that, the...
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for the question. This is an issue where there is genuine concern across the Chamber and within and outside political parties. Actually, the achievement in cancer services is a marker of the success we’ve had within the NHS but also of the unmet challenge that still exists. I’m pleased that you noted there’s been a significant move forward in one-year and five-year...
Vaughan Gething: I’ll check, but I’m not aware there is a particular Welsh Government plan to run a targeted campaign at men, but we do recognise that the third sector are particularly active in promoting awareness. I actually think the biggest thing that we know, because there’s evidence about this being effective on a population-screening basis, is actually to make sure that the breast cancer...
Vaughan Gething: Interestingly, the Member was in the room when I had a meeting on exactly this subject about six weeks ago with the Member for Torfaen and her parliamentary colleague. These are areas that we’re actively considering. We’re beginning to see that there’s more that we can do to have an evidence-led approach to making sure that the most effective and proportionate treatments are available...
Vaughan Gething: I’m expecting a Wales Audit Office report on the wider information management and technology system in NHS Wales. I expect that to be completed within the next three to four months, and governance arrangements will form part of that Wales Audit Office review and I will, of course, expect that to include the NHS Wales Informatics Service. I will then consider the recommendations of that...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for urging me to take a reformist mindset. I recognise the points that are raised, because they’re hosted by Velindre and the hosting arrangements are such because I think there would be a challenge trying to set them up as a wholly separate NHS body, but I am interested in not just a debate, but an answer to how we provide greater awareness of what they do and greater governance...
Vaughan Gething: Well, that’s more about the capacity of NWIS to actually undertake a joint mission, a different mission, of both developing new products and at the same time maintaining the significant architecture that we have. And we saw in the recent cyber attacks the ability of NWIS as a national body to co-ordinate action to maintain our whole system. That was a significant undertaking. I’ve said...
Vaughan Gething: Maternity services in Wales work in collaboration with physiotherapy and specialist continence services. These services provide assessment and identify problems incorporating faecal and urinary incontinence, with referral to specialist services for treatment and individualised care planning.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the follow-up questions. Again, I acknowledge that this issue was first brought front and centre for me by the Member for Cardiff Central. I think we need to start off with the point that I am genuinely very proud to have this job, to stand up and to work with the national health service, but I do have to balance that with the recognition that the service doesn’t always get it...
Vaughan Gething: Formally.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I’m grateful for the opportunity to take part in this debate, and the opportunity to highlight the significant amount of work already being undertaken by this Government and the national health service. I am sorry, though, that there won’t be more time to answer and debate all of the points made in this debate, and I’m genuinely happy to continue a...
