Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We have established a committed team. The national recovery director will lead the health service to ensure that our recovery programme is delivered. Every health board has been given additional funding to be used to help them to transform and to deliver locally, and some of that funding will be used to support patients on waiting lists. Now, in the eight weeks since we launched the plan,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Buffy Williams was asking me about cancer care, and you'll be aware that there are new rapid diagnostic centres now in every health board. The Cardiff one will be coming online later this year. Seventy-five million pounds has been provided to upgrade diagnostic capacity, including new MRI and CT equipment. Twelve million pounds has been invested for linear accelerators in Betsi Cadwaladr and...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We've introduced electronic systems for patient referral and advice across Wales. And, as a result, almost 15 per cent of referrals are now managed by advising patients rather than through new appointments for in-patients. Each of these steps will begin to tackle issues that have been raised in this important report. Some people will still, I'm afraid, have to wait for too long for some time....
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. The people of Wales deserve health services that deliver the best possible outcomes for patients. We will be guided by the best and most up-to-date clinical evidence to deliver that high-quality care. Today’s debate is a subject that we’ve discussed on numerous occasions and I therefore make no apologies to Members that they will hear again why services...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: In accordance with our expectations, and the policy for all health boards, Hywel Dda University Health Board is developing their six-point plan for emergency care, and this includes the whole accident and emergency care, from primary care to health services, and social care in the community, which is at the heart of our communities. The priority of the health board is to maintain safe...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: So, those people who are waiting for hip operations in places like Pembrokeshire need to understand that having A&E and planned care in the same place, you're constantly being thrown out. And we've got an expert amongst us, who's an orthopaedic surgeon, who knows that that is the situation. You keep on asking us to separate things; this is an opportunity to do that—
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: for us to really tackle those waiting lists. Let me just be clear, there has been no decision on the hospital yet. I'm sitting next to the finance Minister here, and she'd have to find a hell of a lot of money. This is not straightforward at all. And, of course, as somebody who represents the area, I would not be allowed to make a decision, but let me tell you, as the person responsible for...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for the opportunity to make this important statement today about the publication of our quality statement on women’s and girls’ health. We’ve been working hard to improve the quality of care everyone receives in Wales and to reduce the level of variation in standards between services available in one part of Wales and another. However, there...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The Bloody Brilliant awareness resource—
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: it doesn't translate to Welsh quite so well—
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: —also funded through the women’s health implementation group, has been widely praised, and has been accessed by people around the world. Working with clinicians, we have set up a task and finish group to look at best practice to design a new menopause care pathway for Wales. The group's work will support the four-nations menopause taskforce. We have also set up a gynaecology planned care...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Excellent. Thanks, Russell. First of all, I thank the committee for taking this issue seriously. I guess I've got a little appeal to you, as a committee—I know you're independent and you can do what you want, but it would be really useful if you could do this quite quickly so that you can influence the plan. What I'm really keen to do with this plan is to get everybody to contribute and...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. I think it's really important to make it absolutely clear there's no contradiction in the fact that we have already started to do work in the gynaecological space. What we're doing here is to expand beyond that, and, certainly, this was something that was drawn to my attention very early on after I was appointed, and I just wasn't aware of it, the fact that heart disease is...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. And, Jenny, I'd like to support you in terms of your position on women's right to choose. I'm absolutely despairing in terms of what's happening in the United States, and I think it's been a very sad step backwards for women and, indeed, men in that country. In terms of endometriosis, you'll be aware that we have now in every health board an endometriosis nurse. I've met...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Certainly, I'm very aware, and I've heard on several occasions you talk about your experiences in terms of perinatal health, and the same with Buffy—very traumatic experiences, and you're representative of so many thousands of women who've been through a very, very traumatic time. And I think it's really important that we think through, and this is why the life-course...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Well, what we have seen is an increase of 40 per cent in terms of demand over the past five years when it comes to HRT. And the real problem is that manufacturers haven't kept pace with that demand. So, we are working with the UK Government, who, of course, is responsible for procuring this on our behalf, and, obviously, people are being advised to perhaps go to alternatives...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. In terms of cervical screening, I think it's really important that we also take not just—. It's obviously a gender issue, but there's an inequalities issue within that. So, it's clear that we see fewer people from poorer areas presenting themselves for screening, so we've got to take that into account as well, and make sure that we're making up for that, not just in terms...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Buffy, and I know you, too, have had your issues in relation to women's health as well. I think it's really important that people talk about the menopause now, and it's great that people are being a bit more open about it. And I think there's a lot we can do to support women with the menopause and we've got to understand—. In the workplace as well, I think there's a job...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Joyce, and this is an area that I think, again, is one of those unspoken areas where it's really important that we start to talk about it in public, because it really is impacting, in particular, older women, many of whom are afraid to leave their homes now because of the social stigma that they feel if they have issues like that. You will, I'm sure, be very pleased to hear...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. Decisions on priorities for the health service in north Wales are for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. They take into account the needs of their local population, and that's informed by the work of the regional partnership boards, which include citizen panels. Welsh Government officials meet regularly with representatives from all community health councils in Wales,...
