Caroline Jones: Thank you. Sorry, I’ve never done it before. Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. We have tabled the motion before you today to mark Lung Cancer Awareness Month and to recognise that, although progress has been made, lung cancer survival rates in Wales remain amongst the worst in Europe. Lung cancer is the biggest cancer killer worldwide. Every year, more than 1.5 million people die from lung cancer....
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, Minister, and for kindly providing a briefing to opposition spokespeople ahead of the introduction of the Bill. Wales has one of the best health services in the world, yet we also have some of the poorest health in Europe, and we must do whatever we can to address this. UKIP welcome the introduction of the Public Health (Wales) Bill, and we look forward to...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, there were 108 deaths involving C. difficile and 22 deaths involving MRSA in Wales last year. While great strides have been made to improve infection control and hand-washing campaigns have been successful, we still have a problem with cleanliness of hospital facilities. I fully accept that we cannot achieve 100 per cent cleanliness in a working hospital. However, there is...
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your answer, Cabinet Secretary, and staying on the topic of hospital cleanliness, it was disappointing to learn that Bronllys Hospital received a food hygiene rating of 2, while the majority of hospitals score a hygiene rating of 3 or more. I hope that you will agree with me that every hospital should have a five-star hygiene rating. Food served to frail patients should not only...
Caroline Jones: Finally, Cabinet Secretary, we can’t totally eradicate hospital-acquired infection, but we must ensure that we’re properly equipped to treat infection. With antimicrobial resistance on the increase and very few new antimicrobials being discovered, we are reaching a crisis point. What lessons has the Welsh Government learnt from the O’Neill review and what role can the Welsh Government...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, I fully support the intervention with the Home Office in order to prevent this deportation. I commend Jenny Rathbone, Julie, and Neil McEvoy in bringing this constantly to the Chamber. Cabinet Secretary, will you speak to the Home Secretary to urge them to reconsider in this instance?
Caroline Jones: I’d like to thank the Welsh Conservatives for bringing forward this debate today, particularly as we prepare to remember the sacrifice made by so many of our brave armed forces personnel. Welsh citizens have a long tradition of serving our nation’s armed forces, and played a key role in many of the battles in both world wars. Wales represents just 5 per cent of the UK’s population, yet...
Caroline Jones: Will the Minister outline the actions the Welsh Government is taking to reduce child and adolescent mental health services waiting times in Wales?
Caroline Jones: First Minister, in order for the south Wales metro to successfully deliver upon its stated outcome of lowering private car use, it must offer multimodal transport across the region. Therefore, are you as disappointed as I am that the Bridgend interchange will not be completed for another 10 to 15 years? Will the south Wales metro project be able to deliver the interchange sooner than...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, the key to improving cancer survival rates is early diagnosis. It is therefore hugely welcome that the new cancer delivery plan for Wales is overhauling the GP cancer referrals by piloting diagnostic centres in Cwm Taf Local Health Board and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Local Health Board. However, the delivery plan states that improving access to diagnostics is an...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, in recent weeks, the media have been reporting that Tata plans to make a significant investment in the Port Talbot plant of around £0.5 billion. What discussions have the Welsh Government had with Tata regarding their investment plans? Do you know whether they plan to reline the blast furnaces or introduce arc furnaces to the Port Talbot site? Thank you.
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. I’m pleased to see that the Wales for Africa programme continues to be a success, particularly the Wales for Africa health links. I was delighted to learn that, last year, we saw 38 skills exchange visits from Wales to Africa. As we saw from the Ebola outbreak, it’s vital that we take an international approach to many of the global health...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, the UK Government have today announced additional moneys for the Welsh block grant as a result of the autumn statement. Given the challenges outlined in the Welsh Government’s cancer delivery plan, namely the equipment shortages that are holding back earlier cancer diagnoses and consequently survival rates, will you please give a commitment to spend a large proportion of...
Caroline Jones: I would like to thank Plaid Cymru for tabling this debate today. The Welsh Government’s refreshed cancer delivery plan outlines the scale of the problem we face. Cancer care has vastly improved over the years and, as a result, more and more people are surviving cancer. However, we are failing badly when it comes to early diagnosis and have some of the worst five-year survival rates in the...
Caroline Jones: Yes, certainly.
Caroline Jones: Thank you, David. It’s going to be very difficult to keep up with the demand, as one in two of us is going to get cancer, but we can only try our best. We would also support the Welsh Conservatives’ suggestion of a mobile cancer treatment service, particularly for rural areas. There is no single solution to delivering improvements to cancer care in Wales but many small steps we can take....
Caroline Jones: First Minister, with nearly 2,000 deaths in Wales each year, many of them preventable, sepsis is one of the biggest killers most people aren’t aware of. While educating the public to recognise the signs, and ensuring steps are taken in the NHS to prevent the onset of sepsis are vital, so too is ensuring that our healthcare professionals recognise the signs. Many sepsis survivors owe their...
Caroline Jones: I’d like to thank Dr Atherton for his report, and record my thanks to Professor Jones for holding the fort following Dr Hussey’s retirement. Dr Atherton makes it clear that the biggest health challenge facing our nation is tackling the health inequalities between the richest and poorest in our country. The fact that the gap in life expectancy between those living in our most and least...
Caroline Jones: 9. What action is the Welsh Government taking to improve the educational outcomes for young people with additional learning needs? OAQ(5)0053(EDU)
Caroline Jones: Minister, one of my constituents with additional learning needs has been waiting over seven months for an appointment with the child and adolescent mental health services, and in the interim has been receiving just a few hours of schooling each week. How can we expect young people like my constituent to reach their full potential if we are denying them a full and rich education? Minister,...
