Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, and it's very heartening to hear about the work that they are undertaking in those community dental services in Llanelli. The good news is that we have given an additional £2 million worth of recurrent funding since 2022 to improve access, and many of the health boards have used that funding to invest in their community dental services—and that's true, I know, both in...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: In August 2022, the chief dental officer published updated guidance on the role of the community dental service. This included the expansion of salaried dental officer posts, to support local communities who have limited or no access to general dental services normally provided by the independent contractor model.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The work of the respiratory health implementation group has been highly successful in improving asthma care, including the establishment of difficult-asthma services, but the pandemic has led to significant disruption to routine asthma care. The quality statement for respiratory disease will be published in the coming months.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Following contractual reforms that commenced on 1 April, 99 per cent of pharmacies in Wales offer a range of nationally directed additional clinical services, including providing treatment for common minor ailments, access to repeat medicines in an emergency, flu vaccinations, and some forms of emergency and regular contraception.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Since its establishment in 2009, Hywel Dda University Health Board staffing levels have increased by 2,263 whole-time equivalents, or 23.6 per cent.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. Well, as you know, we have modelled and we have looked at what could happen during this coming winter, and the health service is preparing for the models that we have seen, where we'll be likely to see a peak, according to the modelling, in December and January, so we do need to prepare for that, and that is the time, of course, not just for COVID issues, but that's when people...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. Well, I can assure you that there will be a national campaign alongside the campaigns that are happening, I'm sure, at local authority level. If I'm honest, we are a bit disappointed with the number of people who have come forward so far in relation to health and care staff, which is why I've instructed my officials to write to the health boards to make sure that we drum...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Our approach emphasises that vaccination continues to offer the best protection from COVID-19 and flu. For those who are eligible to be vaccinated, getting vaccinated is the most important action that they can take to protect themselves and others. Our winter respiratory vaccination programme was launched on 1 September and, to date, over 360,000 COVID-19 vaccines have been given. Our advice...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I provided an update to Members regarding COVID-19 and winter pressures on 20 September. I highlighted the fact that we are preparing for a third winter of living with COVID, but that the situation regarding respiratory viruses is more uncertain than previous years because seasonal patterns have been significantly disrupted due to the pandemic. The latest rise...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Almost all of the children and young people referred to the team have difficulty in reaching the required attendance rates in schools. A crucial element is collaboration with schools and primary care practitioners to help these young people to access education in a way that is appropriate to their needs. That includes having discussions with parents, of course. The team have planned a...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. And I'd like to thank Mark Isherwood for raising this really important issue. Mark, I can always rely on you to teach me something new in these debates—you always have so many facts and figures at your fingertips, and they're always very useful for us to take note of, and certainly I'll be making sure that we take note of those and follow up some of those issues. Forgive me...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Russell said that this is not a party political issue. I can assure you that I don't think it's a party political issue, and that's why we, like you, want to see an improvement in the system and that's why we in the Government and on the Labour benches will be supporting this motion.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: So, just in answer, specifically in terms of how this is going to be built into the women's plan, this is a bottom-up approach. There's a consultation that's going on asking women to contribute: what is it that we should be putting in in that women's healthcare plan for the future? And so, that is a bottom-up approach, so if people want this to be on the agenda as well, to make sure that...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: There is so much to be done, and I know that our committed managers and clinicians are doing everything within their power to meet people's needs. Raising these concerns in terms of systems is no criticism at all of their efforts or their commitment, and I can assure you that I'm doing everything within my power to place a deserved focus on this.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: So, I am holding a summit, a cancer summit, on 12 October, and I can assure you that I am now going to make sure that I put on that agenda gender-related cancer breakdowns just to make sure that we're not seeing a difference in the way that different cancers are being considered.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I am more than willing to give particular attention to improving the work on workforce development for cancer and whether our provision for the workforce is sufficient. I intend to introduce a cancer service action plan for the NHS over the next few weeks.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: So, the plan for the cancer services will be published in the next few weeks.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: And in this plan, I will set out in more detail how we will deliver against the expectation set out in the quality statement for cancer and the care transformation programme that is planned. We will also introduce an action plan on women's health in order to ensure that we meet the particular health and care needs of women in Wales.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: But, there is a reality to all of this. It's going to take time to recover, time to grow our workforce and to reach where we need to be. Now, I'm aware in terms of cancer services that time is not always available to people, and I'm not asking people to be patient, but I am seeking to explain what's causing the problem and how we're going to restore the situation. I can assure you that there...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. I'd like to thank Russell and the Conservatives for bringing forward another important debate on cancer services. I'd like to thank others, also, for their really powerful and thoughtful contributions to this debate. As we emerge from the impact of the pandemic, we must continue to focus on recovery in cancer services and look to minimise any impact on outcomes. We've set...
