Cefin Campbell: Amongst everything that is happening, the Welsh Government is in serious danger at present of losing the confidence and support of our health workers, and indeed the wider public, in its ability to manage the NHS. This is reflected in the fact that ambulance staff have now decided to take industrial action—something that I'm sure has weighed heavily on them. It's clear that we need to...
Cefin Campbell: Waiting for an ambulance is, of course, only the first part of the story. Critical delays in response times are being driven by overcrowding and a shortage of hospital beds at the other end, which means that patients are often having to wait for hours in cold ambulances outside emergency departments before they can be admitted. I was recently contacted by a constituent who told me about what...
Cefin Campbell: I'm very grateful for this opportunity to contribute to today's debate, because it's vital that we draw attention to the challenges facing the health service to prevent those challenges from becoming normalised. And that's the big danger, that the current deficiencies become a normal part of the service in moving forward to the future. I also welcome this opportunity to call on the Welsh...
Cefin Campbell: Thank you very much. As we all know, sheep scab is a great concern for sheep farmers in Wales, and the disease has a very significant impact on the health and well-being of livestock. Across the UK, it contributes to losses of around £8 million in the sector per annum. As you've already explained, the Government is committed to eradicating sheep scab in Wales, and I particularly welcome the...
Cefin Campbell: Will the Minister provide an update on efforts to combat the spread of disease in livestock in Mid and West Wales?
Cefin Campbell: 2. Will the Minister provide an update on efforts to combat the spread of disease in livestock in Mid and West Wales? OQ58965
Cefin Campbell: Thank you very much. According to the Wales Centre for Public Policy, rural poverty is often hidden under the surface by the comparative wealth of our rural areas, and a culture of self-reliance. As I said in the Plaid Cymru debate on child poverty before the Christmas recess, households across mid and west Wales are more vulnerable to poverty because of a number of factors such as lower than...
Cefin Campbell: 5. Will the First Minister make a statement on efforts to tackle rural poverty in Mid and West Wales? OQ58975
Cefin Campbell: I am concerned, therefore, that the centralisation of these vehicles in north Wales will drastically hamper the effectiveness of rapid response vehicles. And at a time of such severe strain on the ambulance service, this concern is particularly grave. This debate has highlighted many things, from the magnitude of local feeling, to questions regarding the data used by the air ambulance service...
Cefin Campbell: I acknowledge that the air ambulance has pledged that this rapid response that it offers will continue in any process of centralisation, and I certainly welcome that commitment. However, like others, I am particularly concerned about the impact that any such centralisation could have on the effectiveness, as Mabon mentioned earlier, of the rapid response vehicle service provided by the...
Cefin Campbell: As has been highlighted during this debate already, many communities in mid Wales are feeling increasingly abandoned in their access to wider health provision. There's no general hospital in Powys, and previously available services—at Llanidloes and Newtown, for example—have been downgraded, and ambulance response times continue to fall shamefully short of critical targets. Under the...
Cefin Campbell: I'd like to begin by putting on record my thanks and the thanks of all of us here, I'm sure, to those volunteers who are part of groups such as SAVE Wales Air Ambulance—Welshpool Base for their tireless work to raise awareness of the proposals that we are discussing here this afternoon. The fact that there have been over 20,000 signatures, as we have already heard, opposing the closure of...
Cefin Campbell: Thank you very much. The energy crisis—which has been made worse, of course, by the war in Ukraine—has emphasised the need in Wales to be far more resilient in terms of producing our own energy. The Welsh Government is committed to producing 70 per cent of electricity in Wales through renewable means by 2030, and I welcome that very much, and the emphasis on local ownership is part of...
Cefin Campbell: 7. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to facilitate local renewable energy projects in Mid and West Wales? OQ58915
Cefin Campbell: I urge you, Minister, to redouble your efforts using all of the powers available to you and this Government to tackle child poverty. Thank you.
Cefin Campbell: In Mid and West Wales, recent figures showed the seriousness of the situation in our rural and coastal communities. Those several areas of Wales saw a fall in child poverty rates between 2014 and 2019. In some rural, coastal regions, child poverty continued to rise alarmingly. Of the six local authorities in Wales seeing an increase in child poverty rates, five were in rural or coastal areas,...
Cefin Campbell: We are all far too aware of how common child poverty is in Wales. It's not a new phenomenon—it's an issue that is deep rooted here in Wales, and has been for far too long, and it continues to have far-reaching and damaging impacts. Wales has been on the top of child poverty league tables across the UK year upon year, which is a cause for national shame. With the current cost-of-living...
Cefin Campbell: Minister, you said that the first stage—and we've heard you confirm this—of the update to the women's health plan would be published in the autumn, and now we are in the final week before the Christmas recess. So, I urge you to say when exactly this plan will be published, and it should be published immediately to avoid the kinds of experiences that individuals such as Emily have faced...
Cefin Campbell: Diolch yn fawr iawn. Minister, you may recall me sharing my constituent Emily's story some months ago during Plaid Cymru's opposition debate on women's health. Tragically, she was forced to endure almost a 10-year wait for a diagnosis of endometriosis, a condition that affects one in 10 women across Wales. Now 24, Emily lives with stage 4 endometriosis, adenomyosis and other symptoms that...
Cefin Campbell: Thank you very much. As we all know, small businesses are the backbone of our rural economy. However, the cost-of-living crisis has been a significant blow to them, with a recent report by the Federation of Small Businesses noting that 63 per cent of small businesses have seen energy costs increasing over the past year—two out of every five have seen their costs more than doubling. Now, Mid...
