Vaughan Gething: We are committed to engaging with people throughout north Wales. As part of the special measures, the health board is required to improve how it engages with staff, the local population, partners and stakeholders, and is committed to developing a more effective engagement model.
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for his question. There are two different points here. The first is about central services and the central guidance that the OECD refer to, and they’re not really talking about the Government overtaking the role of local health boards in engaging with their local population to explain their proposals for improving the service that people receive. As I said in my initial...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. We will continue to work in partnership with health boards and trusts to market Wales and the NHS Wales as an attractive place for doctors to train, work and live. We will continue to prioritise those hard-to-fill specialties where recruitment challenges remain right across the UK.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. It is, of course, a matter of fact that we have more GPs than ever before in the health service; the challenge always is how many staff we need at what grades to provide the quality of care that people will rightly expect, and it will be a changing model of care. Horeb is an example of a model of care where they could not recruit and they couldn’t attract other...
Vaughan Gething: The Welsh Government believes that modern, appropriate and accessible sports facilities are key in encouraging more people to take part in sport. Sport Wales, our delivery agent, is working with partners to ensure that there are good quality facilities spread across Wales.
Vaughan Gething: Gluten-free products are an essential part of the clinical treatment of coeliac disease. National prescribing guidance was published in 2013 to support healthcare professionals in the management of patients with coeliac disease. Coeliac UK has supported the development of the guidance including the updated version published in March 2016.
Vaughan Gething: Last month, the First Minister made a statement setting out the Welsh Government’s legislative programme for 2016/17. For health wellbeing and sport, the key legislation is the reintroduction of a Public Health Bill, although clearly there is a close interest in the Additional Learning Needs Bill. There will also be a secondary legislation programme stemming from the recently passed...
Vaughan Gething: I met representatives on 6 July to hear their views about future support for those affected by NHS supplied contaminated blood. I clarified current scheme funding arrangements and reaffirmed that a decision about the way forward for Wales would be made when the outcome of the England consultation is known.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. Following the latest routine tripartite meeting between the Welsh Government, Health Inspectorate Wales, and the Wales Audit Office, it was agreed that the three organisations that you’ve mentioned should be escalated to the targeted intervention status in our escalation and intervention framework. I issued a written statement on this to all Assembly Members on 7...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the series of follow-up questions. In terms of your broad point about NHS finance across Wales, of course, eight of our 10 organisations achieved financial balance last year. One of those that did not is Hywel Dda. That’s a direct contrast with the position in England, where eight out of 10 acute hospitals trusts are not achieving financial balance. The point about planning...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question and the points made. I think it is worth reminding ourselves that there is a range of areas where Hywel Dda does particularly well—on diagnostics, for example, it’s done particularly well, and it’s in a position where, at the end of the last year, no-one was waiting more than eight weeks. So, there is a range of positives for Hywel Dda as well as their...
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for her comments. There’s something of a contrast from the start to the end, welcoming on the one hand the action taken and then regretting the action taken towards the end. I think the honest truth is that the targeted intervention is not just an important recognition and reflection of where we are, but it is about supporting those organisations to improve. There are...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the series of questions. There are a range of different challenges in each of the boards, as I have mentioned before, and I’ve discussed the financial challenge of Hywel Dda and the fact that, for Cardiff and Vale, one of the areas for their move to targeted intervention was our confidence in their ability to balance their books this year and through the next iteration of...
Vaughan Gething: Well, the point to make about targeted intervention, in response to the comments that have just been made, is that these are targeted on particular areas of the service, and it’s where the Welsh Government will be working with and alongside those organisations, helping to direct them along a path of improvement. In the other areas of their operation, they retain the responsibility that they...
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for the question and the comments, and it is fair to say that there is a positive ambition and vision from Cardiff and Vale health board. You’re right to point out the significant progress that has been made and sustained on waiting times in A&E and, indeed, in cancer care as well. There’s more to do but we do recognise progress that the health board has made. On your...
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for her questions and comments. People regularly talk about the morale of staff within the service and the worry about the level of confidence the public has in the health service, and, frankly, that is affected by the way we talk about the service. When you talk about ‘serious failings’ across healthcare in Wales, it is no surprise that the debate is injected with a...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. I’m grateful to the Conservative Party for tabling today’s debate, and the opportunity it provides to set out the significant work being done in this area by health boards, trusts and the Welsh Government. There are, of course, challenges for recruitment and retention in Wales, across the NHS family in the UK and further afield in most western healthcare systems. I can...
Vaughan Gething: Yes, a couple of seconds.
Vaughan Gething: I’m very pleased to say that discussion is taking place. At the ministerial task group that I set up—I chaired it a few weeks ago—it is part of our ongoing and engaging discussion. Indeed, in the early months of my time in this particular post, I’ve met those particular stakeholders, and they are continuing to work with the Government on designing and delivering our campaign. I’m...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Our Welsh Labour manifesto made a commitment to take action to attract more GPs to Wales and to encourage more doctors to train here. We also agreed with Plaid Cymru, as part of the compact to move Wales forward, to put in place plans to train additional GPs and other primary care professionals. Our vision for the Welsh NHS is an integrated health service...
