Angela Burns: I'd like to thank the Chair of the committee for putting this forward in such a measured and balanced way. We are talking about 40,000 signatures. Behind each and every signature is a voice. We are talking about 40,000 voices who have been striving to be heard for over a decade; 40,000 tired and very frustrated voices, who live in constant fear because they never seem to be able to impact...
Angela Burns: Thank you very much for that answer. And thank you for accepting, Presiding Officer, the topical question. I would like to have been able to have had a statement on this where we could have actually asked you some questions, because, like you, I welcome the increase in the pay award to doctors and dentists in Wales, but there are a couple of areas that need some clarity. We've seen a 4.6...
Angela Burns: 2. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on changes to the pay of doctors and dentists in Wales? 214
Angela Burns: Leader of the house, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services published a written statement on 25 September concerning the doctors and dentists review body and their pay recommendations. Whilst it was good news to see that there's going to be an increase across this portion of the NHS and that, also, I was delighted to read the written statement, I do believe that we need a full...
Angela Burns: Thank you for taking an intervention, because I think, actually, the one thing that we haven't mentioned is the role the media play, and I think it's vital that the media desist on some of the ways that they portray people, politicians, refugees, so that these good role models, these good stories, the broadening of our understanding and the acceptance of different ways of life are portrayed...
Angela Burns: Actually, I'm really glad to hear you say that you're not going to expect every single bid to be successful, because the key to being able to achieve this recalibration of the NHS is that we've got to be prepared to accept failure, and there will be some failures along the way in all of these projects. But you are talking about the projects—you're talking about the transformation fund and...
Angela Burns: So, given what you've just said about the role that you see the regional boards performing, can you explain then how that ties in to the national transformation board? Will they be the ones who are responsible, ultimately, for the transformation of the national health service? And, as I'm sure you are aware, business process re-engineering is a highly defined skill and it takes a lot of...
Angela Burns: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, following the July publication of the Welsh Government response to the parliamentary review, I note you indicated that the regional partnership boards are to be responsible for directing change and that you intend to issue guidance. Could you please tell us when will this guidance be forthcoming on the transformational change, and, considering that the...
Angela Burns: Following on from that, Cabinet Secretary, of course you will be aware of various stories at the beginning of school term of children being punished for not having the correct school uniform. I absolutely buy into the notion that we want all the children to look the same, and it's very important for school discipline and school morale, and so on. But one of the concerns I have is this view...
Angela Burns: First Minister, for a number of years now, I have used First Minister's questions to ask you to address when your Government plans to meet its cancer waiting time targets, and you have, to be fair, given me regular assurances that it will happen in the very near future. But the latest figures for June 2018 showed that the target for patients referred via the urgent route is being missed by...
Angela Burns: Leader of the house, I'm regularly approached, as I know many Assembly Members are, by organisations that have got ideas about how they might be able to help to improve, digitise and streamline public services. Many of these organisations have proven track records throughout the rest of the UK and, indeed, in Europe, but they are finding it increasingly difficult to interface with the Welsh...
Angela Burns: Thank you very much indeed. I do only have one question, but a very small preamble, which is that this report is the culmination of two and a half years of detailed work. Several thousand documents, some previously unpublished, have been reviewed by the team, 200 interviews with current and former staff and current and recent service users, across the six counties of north Wales, and it's...
Angela Burns: Well, of course, you hit on the word 'play', and you said that everybody should have access to be able to play, especially young children. We talk in this place a lot about obesity, about making our kids healthy and fit and active and all the rest of it, and yet, First Minister, what I'd be interested to know is what is your Government doing—your Government, the one here in Wales—to...
Angela Burns: Would you take an intervention?
Angela Burns: On your point of the abrogation of responsibility, in saying that perhaps health boards should be the ones responsible for the implementation of NICE guidelines, do you think we need to give an organisation such as Care Inspectorate Wales more teeth on behalf of the Government, or on behalf of us, so that they can make sure that those who break those guidelines are suitably punished?
Angela Burns: That could be a factor. But I know, for example, as a person who has relatives who have struggled with dementia, I would be appalled if I thought that I was going to put a loved one into a home that had a classification that said, 'This is a care home that is able to deal holistically and in the round with a person who has dementia', and I would believe that, and I'd go, 'Oh great, my loved...
Angela Burns: I'm grateful to all the witnesses who came to give evidence to the committee. Some of the personal stories that we heard were absolutely harrowing and have been an eye-opener for a great many of us. Cabinet Secretary, I'm sure that you will agree with me that it's completely unacceptable that powerful medication is being used inappropriately or not being routinely reviewed—medications...
Angela Burns: I do welcome the expansion of medical school places, although I do regret that you didn't choose to announce that expansion here when this has been a topic that has exercised so many of us on so many occasions. We do have a shortage of doctors, as you're well aware, in certain disciplines such as general practice, paediatrics and rheumatology. Are you able, through these places, to seek to...
Angela Burns: Minister, I would be keen to get a greater understanding of how local authorities measure and collate the reasons for homelessness. As you know, in my constituency, we have a case of a significant number of park home residents who, through the changes in law made by Welsh Government, are under threat of becoming homeless. Now, in response to a letter of mine, you said that you'd already had...
Angela Burns: First of all, I'd like to thank Lynne Neagle and her committee for this report. Lynne, you are fearless and tough and I have great admiration and total respect for you. I think the children and young people's committee is in very good hands, and if it was up to me I think the children of Wales would be good and safe in your hands too. I think the 'Mind over matter' report has got to the heart...
