Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I echo the comments of the Deputy Minister in terms of our thanks to the health and care workforce for their tireless work? Thank you for today’s statement. There are very important principles here that we can all hopefully support, on the importance of supporting people to live independently in their communities and the need to transform services in a meaningful way to allow that to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I am going to refer in my very last seconds, Deputy Presiding Officer, to the last statement from the Minister. 'In closing, to reassure Members that dentistry is one of my top priorities, I want to develop an NHS dental service in Wales that is fair for dentists'— it clearly isn't; they are leaving in droves— 'delivers for the risk and needs of the population'— clearly, it's not doing...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Now, the Minister refers to contractual changes, which were intended to enhance access to NHS services. She says that 140,000 new patients had been seen. On the face of it, of course, that sounds positive, but it's entirely clear that this is not sustainable. I was speaking yesterday to a dentist who is entirely committed to the NHS, who had succeeded in hitting that target and registered...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I have heard statements recently saying that NHS dentistry is now a two or three-tiered system, and the fact is that there has always been a private dental system—an established alternative. I think that many people will find it staggering to hear a Labour Minister referring so casually to that very real divide between the haves and have-nots. The Minister refers there to just the two-tier...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for the statement and for giving us prior sight of it. But I have to say that it’s an astonishing statement in many ways, and I’m afraid that it doesn’t seem to reflect the reality of the dental service or patient experience at any level. It’s another one of these statements that gives the impression either that everything is fine or that there are problems, but those...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ‘Dentistry has been one of the more difficult services to recover following the COVID-19 pandemic and explains, in part, why people experience difficulty accessing NHS dental care.’
Rhun ap Iorwerth: That’s completely disingenuous, I’m afraid. Of course COVID brought huge challenges to dentistry, as was the case with all health and care services. But the issues in dentistry were very serious indeed before COVID hit. And things are getting worse; I am going to quote once again.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I would like to ask for a statement from the economy Minister, giving clarification about the process that will be followed—imminently, hopefully—for announcing the granting of free-port status to a port or ports in Wales, a decision made jointly, of course, by UK and Welsh Governments. And I'd like to place on record, again, my gratitude to Anglesey council and Stena for putting together...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Simply put, what I'm asking the First Minister to do today is to hold a genuine review of the decision not to proceed with the scheme for the Menai crossing. I note that the Burns commission has received a request to look at different options. I have put forward an argument to that commission for reviving this scheme. Of course, the roads review's focus on the environment was mainly the basis...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Government's response to the roads review? OQ59264
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It's striking, I think, that the roads review report on the third crossing reads like a case for that crossing. I'll quote here. The main cases for change are congestion—not top of my list, actually, but— 'congestion and lack of resilience of' the Britannia bridge and Menai bridge. The 'scheme would improve reliability for freight movement.' 'Access by active travel modes would also be...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I appreciate that Cardiff Central is the other end of the country. A comparison would be that it would be like asking somebody to cycle from Grangetown to Riverside via Llanrumney: yes, you can, but it's not practical. We need to make sure that those active travel links are practical and attractive to people. You will not walk or cycle from Llanfairpwll to Parc Menai, a couple of hundred...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The roads review, as I said, does refer to the possibility of using the lower deck to expand rail provision for the future in order to enhance public transport, and that's an example there of the confusion in the report and in the Government's response. We hear that we don't need a bridge, we need to encourage the use of public transport and active travel. And I agree entirely, of course, but...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Yes.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much. As you can imagine, I want to focus on one project specifically, namely the Menai crossing. I say 'the Menai crossing', because do bear in mind that we're not asking for a third bridge over the Menai necessarily; we are talking about a resilient crossing. Do it in another way, without another bridge, if you like. And there have been a number of inquiries that have looked...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Of course, the Minister is absolutely right that this is a step—putting it in special measures—that needed to be taken now. Of course it should have been in special measures. But the question is why we have a board that has, for eight years, needed to be in special measures. If the Minister won't share with me my ambition to look forward to a fresh start, with new health boards, how about...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. If what the Minister did with Betsi Cadwaladr health board last week was supposed to give people renewed hope, then I'm afraid that's not what happened. What we have is a population and a workforce who are holding their heads in their hands. We've been here before. In 2015, Mark Drakeford said that he was to place the board in special measures because of concerns about...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Why is the Minister so determined that this failing, dysfunctional health board is the best model that is available for the patients in the north of Wales? Why on earth wouldn't she share my wish to just start again, with two or three smaller health boards? And before she tells me that this would distract from the focus on improving the board, will she realise that I and the people of north...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I would like a statement, please, on the practical work that will be done by Betsi Cadwaladr health board now that it is under special measures. Particularly, I want to see progress in providing improved primary care in Holyhead and the area. There is a crisis in primary care in Holyhead; there has been ever since two surgeries came under the direct control of Betsi Cadwaladr in 2019. We've...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: There's no doubt at all that Brexit has been very damaging to the port of Holyhead. One strong argument for giving a free port designation to Holyhead is that that designation has already been given to Liverpool, where it's possible to sail directly to Northern Ireland, and the fear is that that designation gives an unfair advantage to Liverpool over Holyhead. But in looking to the longer...
