Vaughan Gething: We support a range of activities to drive service improvement, examples of which were set out in my statements of 19 November 2019, 8 October 2019, and 16 July 2019. Our priority is to ensure that people in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board area receive health services that deliver the best possible outcomes and experience.
Vaughan Gething: Well, obviously, I don't know the individual circumstances that the Member has referred to, and if she wants me to take an interest, then I'll be happy to do so in the individual matter. I'd be interested in knowing, but I'd need the permission of her and her constituent to do so, and what the response is to the complaints and concerns that have been raised. When it comes to what we do about...
Vaughan Gething: No, there's not just a challenge about it within one health board, but the broader improvement we know is required, in particular when it comes to joint replacement surgery, in a number of different parts of Wales. That's part of the reason why we're looking not just at the planned care improvement activity, but what that means in terms of reorganising the range of our services in hospitals,...
Vaughan Gething: Performance against emergency department access targets is not where we, the public or the NHS want it to be and I have made clear my expectation with health boards of the requirement for continuous improvement. We continue to work with all stakeholders to support the delivery of a whole-system improvement.
Vaughan Gething: Well, I don't think it's a question of a single department being the issue in question, but there is improvement work taking place on peer leadership and exchange between the three departments in north Wales. There's been outside intervention together as well over the course of not just last winter, but this winter, too. You'll also have seen the measures we've taken, for example, with the...
Vaughan Gething: And if you look at the challenges that exist right across the United Kingdom—[Interruption.]
Vaughan Gething: If you look at the challenges right across the United Kingdom, you'll see exactly the same pressure right across the system, both in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, where each system talks and does honestly reflect the challenges that it has. I think when you look at the work that I'll be able to confirm early in this year on reforming and improving emergency care, you'll see we have...
Vaughan Gething: Well, that's exactly why, in the statement that I've issued today, I set out the work that will be done to look at ambulance availability. That's about releasing ambulances into the community, but also, as I've said, it must be about further improvements to get people through the hospital and out of a hospital as well. We have been more successful than ever at keeping people in their own...
Vaughan Gething: We're closely working with the chief ambulance commissioner, health boards and the Welsh ambulance service to identify actions to support immediate and sustainable improvement in ambulance responsiveness. I made a written statement on this issue earlier today.
Vaughan Gething: No, it certainly isn't the standard of service that I'd want. Obviously, I don't know all of the details, but I wouldn't describe what the Member has set out as being acceptable, and I'm sorry that any person would have that sort of experience. That's exactly why we're looking at ambulance response rates again with a short task and finish group, to look at actions to be taken sooner rather...
Vaughan Gething: This approach is set out in the cancer delivery plan, which remains in place until December of this year. This includes the pilots on rapid diagnostic centres we discussed earlier, supporting primary care referral practice and the single cancer pathway. There are also important national programmes in place to support diagnostic services, such as imaging, pathology and endoscopy.
Vaughan Gething: Well, actually, the good news is that we've filled all of our histopathology training places this year, but I'm aware of not just the role that histopathologists have within cancer but more broadly as well, and there is the point about retaining those people during the course of their training and afterwards as well. And it is, as I said in discussion earlier with Mark Reckless, only partly...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you. We're improving services through the autism strategy, and the integrated autism service is operating across Wales, including in Blaenau Gwent. We will consult on the draft statutory autism code of practice this spring and we are undertaking a demand and capacity review to ensure that services meet the needs of autistic people and their families.
Vaughan Gething: The Member, to be fair, has been consistent in his concern over the lived experience of autistic people and their families in his constituency and the particular concerns that he feels exist in the join-up of all of those services to help make the most positive difference for those families. I think I'm meeting shortly with a group of parents from your constituency, and I'd be happy to...
Vaughan Gething: I am supporting several artificial intelligence projects through the digital priorities investment fund. Artificial intelligence can revolutionise health and care, reinforcing rather than replacing clinical professionals, allowing them to spend more time with patients than paperwork. Using it wisely presents new opportunities to save lives and improve Welsh health and well-being.
Vaughan Gething: All health boards are participating in the dental contract reform programme. Oral health need and risk is being used to plan care, give personalised preventive advice and agree appropriate recall intervals to meet individual needs. This preventive approach supports dental providers to deliver improved access with better patient outcomes.
Vaughan Gething: E-cigarettes are regulated by the EU tobacco products directive that sets out strict minimum safety and quality standards. These are transposed by UK-wide legislation. Separate regulations make it an offence to sell e-cigarettes to under 18s and to purchase e-cigarettes on their behalf.
Vaughan Gething: We continue to work with health boards and Health Education and Improvement Wales on recruitment and retention initiatives. Last year, we recruited record levels of GP trainees.
Vaughan Gething: Diolch, Llywydd. Further to my written statement yesterday, I wanted to take the opportunity to update Members on the range of actions underway to secure and sustain improvements both in maternity services and the wider quality and governance arrangements across Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. Yesterday, I published a second update from the independent maternity services oversight...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the list of questions. I want to start with the point about the impact on families. In terms of meeting families it's hard to understate the impact on those families, not at a single point in time, and different people are on different points in their progress, in either being able to move on or not. Of course, different people with differing responsibilities. It's one of the...
