Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...with our programme of communication, 'Help us help you', trying to direct people to the right care at the right place at the right time, and that is already having an impact. In relation to education, obviously it will be a job for the education Minister to monitor how they get back to normal, just to see to what extent they can be increasing that face-to-face teaching that you set out was...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...and to keep us all safe. We recognise how difficult a time this has been for learners, in particular as we approach examination season. I am pleased to announce that, together with the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, we have agreed an exception to our self-isolation guidance for those people sitting GCSE, AS, A-level and vocational examinations. The aim is to better enable...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...ask questions, James. Thanks very much. [Laughter.] I'll see if I can answer in just as efficient a way. First of all, on dentists, look, we're already on it in terms of apprenticeships. So, Health Education and Improvement Wales, we're asking them to really look at what more we can do in that area, where we're using technicians rather than dentists. On mental health, I know that my...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We recognise how important it is to ensure that learning time for the pharmacy workforce is protected. By working with Health Education and Improvement Wales, we've funded a pilot for protected learning time for community pharmacists this year. The work of evaluating these schemes will be completed during the coming months, and the result of that work will influence the arrangements for the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...Royal Assent. However, the commercial rent Bill came into force on 24 March and, as such, I can confirm that we will not use these provisions. Section 38, Schedule 17, temporary continuity, education and training and childcare. These provisions give the Welsh Ministers a power to issue temporary continuity directions to educational institutions, registered childcare providers and local...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We are committed to undergraduate medical education in north Wales and are working towards this commitment. We have increased medical student places across Wales, to 25 in September 2021 and 40 in September 2022 on the C21 north Wales programme, and an extra 25 places on the graduate entry programme in Swansea from September 2021.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...been a very difficult decision for the JCVI, because generally, children have a milder illness and fewer hospitalisations, but, of course, they have to balance that against the prospect of missing school. So, we have to consider very different issues when it comes to the vaccination of children as young as five years old, of course, so we'll be in a position where we will expect those...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...and care settings. If the public health situation continues to improve, we hope to be able to remove the requirement to wear face coverings entirely by the end of March. We are working closely with schools to support them with planning a return to operating in line with the local decisions framework, which will happen immediately after half term. Face coverings will no longer be routinely...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...to look at the English planned care proposals that came out yesterday. A massive criticism of that is: where's the plan in terms of training? Well, we've got training plans in place; Health Education and Improvement Wales is on this, they know what needs to be done. I can give you chapter and verse in terms of how many people are going to be trained in each different area of cancer. So, we...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...as screening, and detecting cancers at earlier stages makes them easier and more cost-effective to treat. The change has also not been made due to the success of the HPV vaccination programme in schools, although that has been successful, and I was asked by Jack what the rates are. The rates last week in terms of the uptake of vaccine in year 8, which is 12 to 13-year-olds, was around 71...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...discussing obesity too. All of those factors are crucially important in terms of individual health for the future. But it's not something that is limited to health; it is crucial that we consider education, the economy, and all of the other issues that contribute to the way in which people live.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Rhun, is it possible to move more swiftly? Well, I am reluctant to say that it is because one of the things that we are concerned about is that we haven't quite seen what's happening in the schools yet. There are signs in some other places where we're seeing an increase in the numbers of cases in our schools, so the concern is whether that is then going to feed into the adult population and...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...-penalty notices being issued to individuals throughout the whole period that this was in law during 2020. It is expected that the same proportionate approach will be taken by enforcement bodies of educating and advising individuals prior to taking any enforcement actions. I think it's worth saying that if these are not supported, then these regulations will cease to have effect from the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...and that actually now was an exceptional circumstance. The rates are so incredibly high that we just need to make sure we understand that. The other thing, of course, to bear in mind in relation to schools is that there is a local infection decision control framework, many schools have introduced one-way systems and seating plans for older learners, they've staggered the start and end...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...course, is that we have stopped asking people to go for PCR tests because they have to take an LFT and then they don’t have to take a PCR test. That perhaps has had an impact on the numbers. The schools have returned this week, so we don’t know yet what the impact on the numbers will be as a result of that. And also there's the situation in terms of sewage, as we monitor sewage, and...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...Train. Work. Live.' campaign, which has been significant and we've managed to recruit significant numbers to west Wales because of that campaign—30 in 2020 and 26 in 2021. So, we also have Health Education and Improvement Wales, which have published their 10-year workforce strategy, but I think it's important that all GP practices look not just at the recruitment of GPs, but also other...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...group, the Terrence Higgins Trust will be a part of developing that plan. The Welsh Government have already had several meetings with stakeholders and are developing specific actions to address education about HIV and the stigma experienced by those living with HIV, and the first meeting of that stigma group will be taking place before the end of this year. You did talk about the new...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...feel able to be open about their HIV status as they would be with any other condition, without the fear of judgment or being treated differently. We must eradicate stigma in the workplace, in schools and health and social care settings. I expect everyone to be fully informed on HIV and HIV stigma, and the Welsh Government will be working with the education and health sectors in order to...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...support, we've discussed very broadly that we will need to do something in this area, but we're not at that point yet, so we haven't had any agreement on that. Regarding face coverings in schools, it is a recommendation in guidance, just so that people understand what that means. And then, regarding when people will receive their booster vaccine, it's a very complex programme already,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ..., with the army, with all kinds of organisations to see what more can we put in place and who's up for this—who is up for helping us out at this very challenging time. We've always said that schools will be the last things to close. We're doing our utmost to try and keep them open, and I was very pleased to see that the education Minister made that announcement yesterday. We will do...
