Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I certainly agree with the general point that Jenny Rathbone is making. She will know that it is a confusing picture that faces the individual householder in this area, because there is an ongoing and sometimes a rather polarised debate on what the future of domestic heating should be. On the one hand, there are experiments going on and we’re working with the UK Government on...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, we've provided additional funding, established a national improvement programme and increased staffing in the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust. Where health boards take concerted, whole-system action, clear results are already being seen in reducing ambulance waiting times outside hospitals.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, the fundamental answer is not to have ambulances waiting in that way, and while the position in the health service continues to be very challenging, there is some good news in this area. By taking the whole-system approach to which I referred in my original answer, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, working with the ambulance service, achieved a 50 per cent reduction in...
Mark Drakeford: My starting point, Llywydd, is always that where there are lessons to be learnt, inside or outside Wales, then of course we would want to learn them. From my long experience of these sorts of discussions—and I don't have this in front of me—what I would suspect would be that there will be different definitions of what is captured by a category 2 response, so we're counting different...
Mark Drakeford: The first annual report on implementation of the unpaid carers strategy, including the charter, is published today. It covers a range of practical actions—the short breaks scheme and the carers support grant, for example—to support unpaid carers.
Mark Drakeford: I agree with Peter Fox that the right established in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 that unpaid carers are entitled to an assessment—it's a legal right that they have and it's not something that is a grace and favour of anybody else—is a really important right that was established in this Senedd. The strategy and the funding that lies behind it is there to make sure...
Mark Drakeford: Health boards must use National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on the use of mesh to provide suitable treatment options for patients. Care plans should reflect informed choices, co-produced between clinicians and patients.
Mark Drakeford: I thank Jack Sargeant for his continuing interest in this topic. I know that he has previously referred to the work of his constituent and the campaigning work that she has undertaken, and that he received assurances from the then health Minister that we expect, and indeed have seen, a significant reduction in the number of vaginal mesh procedures being carried out in Wales. While there is...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Darren Millar for that, Llywydd. Contract reform, financial incentives, additional investment and diversification of the profession are amongst the actions being taken to improve access for the Member's constituents.
Mark Drakeford: One of the ways in which constituents in the Member's constituency will get that service is when dentists in a thoroughgoing way deliver NICE guidance. The NICE requirement since 2004 is that people should never be called back twice a year for a check-up when there's no clinical reason for doing so. NICE guidelines said all the way back then that a two-year call-back was sufficient for very...
Mark Drakeford: We will continue to work closely with our partners in the local authorities and Cardiff capital region to ensure a sustainable future for the south Wales Valleys, despite the challenges faced by the reduction in funding from the UK Government via the shared prosperity and levelling-up funds.
Mark Drakeford: Our transport policy, 'Llwybr Newydd', sets out our ambitious plans to ensure that everyone in Wales can travel more sustainably, helping reduce the impacts of climate change. The Burns delivery board’s annual report demonstrates progress towards achieving this, but UK Government investment in vital infrastructure is needed for this to continue.
Mark Drakeford: We continue to provide significant and sustained funding to support the provision of mental health services within the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board area. The NHS delivery unit supports the board to improve services and to provide assurance that necessary progress is being made.
Mark Drakeford: Investment, legislative drivers and support, coupled with a robust regulatory framework will drive river water quality improvement. Last week’s phosphate summit brought together all those with a part to play in reducing river pollution.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, the decision to delay aspects of the HS2 line was taken without reference of any sort to the Welsh Government or Transport for Wales. This further explodes the myth that this is an England-and-Wales project.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I thank Rhys ab Owen for what he has said. And he will understand that I have to take care not to confuse the responsibilities I have as the Senedd Member for Cardiff West. In that capacity, I'm very familiar with all the arguments Rhys ab Owen has set out, and, in that capacity, I write on behalf of Cardiff residents in the way that he has suggested. As First Minister, I...
Mark Drakeford: Wow. You couldn't make it up, Llywydd, but no doubt somebody did for the Member, because she read it out for us. Look, what we've heard, even with the thinnest of material, wasn't worth the time of the Senedd. The notion that the UK Government is serious about public transport, the idea that HS2 has been slightly pushed back, where it now disappears well on the other side of the general...
Mark Drakeford: Wel, Llywydd, first of all, the Member points to what is the fundamental difficulty at the root of what we have seen with HS2, and now, indeed, maybe with the Northern Powerhouse as well: it is the arbitrary ability of the UK Treasury to make classifications of the sorts to which Jane Dodds referred, and which ends up with the Northern Powerhouse being an England-and-Wales form of investment....
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, the record of the Welsh Government speaks for itself: over £800 million already invested in metro developments across Wales, a further £800 million invested in new train fleets across Wales—trains made here, now, in Wales. What a contrast with the figures I gave you on electrification. What we need, Llywydd, is we need the devolution of rail infrastructure here in Wales,...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, we work with partners to retain existing workers, recruit locally and bring new clinicians to the area. While challenges remain, and are real, mid Wales continues to be an attractive place to work, live and train. The workforce of the Powys local health board has increased by over 700 full-time posts over the last decade.
