Vaughan Gething: I think it's a fair question. What I've done is I've asked our technical advisory group to look again at the current evidence, not just on the new variant, but the evidence of COVID and education, and my understanding has been that teachers are not high-risk professionals. Other education staff are not high-risk professions, and that's good news. And it's credit to those teachers, and other...
Vaughan Gething: I know that your previous profession was in the secondary education tier, but actually, when you look at what we, in particular, are trying to do, patterns for life are often set in early years and in primary school, and there's lots of outdoor education in almost all the primary schools that I have seen and visited. It's a consistent part of what they look to achieve. And not only that, but...
Vaughan Gething: I completely agree, and the Member's right to point out that Welsh Labour have actually done the hard yards in Government to expand medical education and training opportunities in north Wales. We've done that successfully. It's a clear, headline, direct manifesto pledge: if you vote Welsh Labour, then we will see through to a successful conclusion a medical school in north Wales—more...
Vaughan Gething: ...to confirm the Government supports all of the amendments. We launched the Healthy Child Wales programme in October last year, for all children and their families, to improve health, social and educational development and long-term physical, mental and social outcomes. The programme will safeguard the health of children through screening and surveillance services from birth to seven years...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. Earlier this week, I was happy to announce an immediate increase in medical school places in Wales. These 40 additional places will bring benefits to the whole of Wales, including west and north Wales, with 20 places in Swansea medical school and 20 places in Cardiff medical school, to be delivered in collaboration with Bangor University in north Wales. Cardiff and...
Vaughan Gething: ..., in understanding how we use properly the capacity we have and in reconfiguring that capacity to make better use of it. I think the link that you attempt to draw between a decision over a medical school and the ability to recruit enough staff to work within a different model—I don’t accept that there is a direct link in the way in which you try to present it. The decision that I...
Vaughan Gething: Yes, I'm more than happy to continue the work that I and Dafydd Elis-Thomas have started with a range of Ministers with an interest. And, of course, the Minister for Education has a specific role and remit over what takes place within the school. There's a challenge about not just what takes place in the curriculum, but the broader culture within that school, but—obviously, with our...
Vaughan Gething: We're working through that with colleagues not just here in education—and the education Minister and I have a very constructive and good working relationship in sharing information and decision making—but also, of course, with staff within local government and within the school sector to identify relevant staff, to make sure they're identified for the vaccination process. We'll need to...
Vaughan Gething: ...for the health service. It is about health and health outcomes. For example, the daily mile is not something that the health service itself directly delivers, but it is working in partnership with schools about different forms of activity. Other schools won't have a daily mile, but they will have a different form of regular physical activity within the school. You're right about the...
Vaughan Gething: ...areas, including the development of an effective symptom awareness tool, evaluation of the follow-up processes after surgery, a multidisciplinary approach to symptom management, development of educational resources, and ongoing monitoring of patient outcomes to understand if we are being more successful. I agree that that is something that should be taken forward by the women's health...
Vaughan Gething: ..., indeed, other significant parts of the hospice movement here in Wales. So, I'm interested in understanding not just the work that they do, but how any strategy—and, of course, the Minister for Education is due to publish a further guidance about suicide bereavement support for schools, for children and young people—uses an understanding of the lived experience of those children and...
Vaughan Gething: ..., and it’s a helpful contrast between Wales and England. I think everyone in every part can take some real pride that we’re taking that approach here in Wales. A number of people mentioned education and the importance, not just of the new curriculum and the health and well-being aspects of that, including relationships, but this whole point about childcare and early years education....
Vaughan Gething: ...health measures; it’s not just a health and social services or even sport responsibility—there’s a whole range of other people with an issue here, for example the work that we do on healthy schools and the way that schools engage. In every school I visit in my own constituency and around the country, you see a very clear healthy eating and healthy drinking message and in particular...
Vaughan Gething: ...of products on the shelves at slightly different price points as well. I'm not aware that there's going to be a challenge in terms of that broader food offer, but on the terms of food supply into schools, for example, I think that is a fair point about one supplier disappearing when actually, of course, schools don't have a chance to reset in that way, which is why the work alongside the...
Vaughan Gething: As the Member knows from our previous exchanges, I have agreed to consider the case for a medical school as part of the work considering the wider workforce requirements for health professional education and training in north Wales. Any decision needs to be supported by clear evidence that change would help deliver on our priorities to train and retain more staff for NHS Wales.
Vaughan Gething: We continue to work with health boards and, from October of course, Health Education and Improvement Wales on recruitment challenges with short, medium and long-term action. This includes our successful 'Train. Work. Live.' campaign, increasing medical school places and working to ensure that more Welsh students go on to study to become healthcare professionals.
Vaughan Gething: We continue to work with health boards and Health Education and Improvement Wales on recruitment and retention challenges, with short, medium and long-term action. This includes our successful Train Work Live campaign, increasing medical school places and working to ensure more Welsh students study to become healthcare professionals.
Vaughan Gething: ...health boards and trusts. On a national level, recruitment continues to be supported by our successful ‘Train. Work. Live.’ campaign, alongside record levels of investment to support healthcare education and training, including additional medical school places.
Vaughan Gething: Again, I recognise the question. I refer to education in its broadest sense, because I don't think there's just an issue for the school system. It's an issue of partnerships between the third sector, between the police, between ourselves, and people in communities as well, and how we equip people with the best possible advice on the impact of the various substances that are available, but...
Vaughan Gething: I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear, as I'm sure you weren't there at the conference, but the education Minister was, and was able to reiterate the zero-tolerance approach of this Government to exactly the sort of threats and intimidation against anybody working in our schools. It is not the sort of behaviour that we think is appropriate, it is not one this Government tolerates, and there is...
