Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary, and I would like to add my thanks to Dr Atherton for his second annual report as chief medical officer. I'm pleased that Dr Atherton has opted to use his annual reports to shine a spotlight on growing public health challenges. Last year, he singled out the health inequalities that exist between those living in our most and least deprived...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, while there have been good examples of the scheme being used to improve the lives of constituents in my region, such as funding for additional foster carers in Neath Port Talbot or a support worker for looked-after children in Swansea, the biggest investment of nearly £1.5 million was used to improve the offices of Bridgend council. Surely the scheme should prioritise areas...
Caroline Jones: 3. Will the First Minister outline how the invest-to-save fund is benefiting South Wales West? OAQ51705
Caroline Jones: I would like to thank the Children, Young People and Education Committee, along with the Chair, for their work on this inquiry and for the report. Perinatal mental health problems are very common, affecting around 20 per cent of women at some point during the perinatal period. They're also a major public health issue, not just because of their adverse impact on the mother, but also because...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, the BMA recently conducted a survey of GPs offering out-of-hours services. Nearly half of all respondents do not provide any out-of-hours services. Those GPs were asked to identify the main barriers to out-of-hours provision: 64.3 per cent cited exhaustion from daily pressures as the main barrier. In my region, over the last couple of years, four practices have closed and...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Whatever the reasons for the decision against EMIS Health Ltd, this affects many GP practices across Wales who have been using the EMIS system for many years. The Royal College of General Practitioners are concerned that this will have a detrimental impact on both GPs and patients due to the scale of the changes needed to move to a new system. There are fears...
Caroline Jones: Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. NHS Wales Informatics Service have just announced that the new contract for the GP clinical systems and services will be awarded to Vision Health Ltd and Microtest Ltd. This has caused concern for many GP practices that use systems provided by EMIS Health Ltd. GP practices have been told that EMIS Health Ltd did not meet a number of the necessary...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, last week a widespread failure in the NHS IT systems caused chaos for GP practices and hospitals across the country, with many GPs reporting that they were unable to access patient records. One GP described the situation as very frustrating and rather dangerous. Hospitals were unable to access test results and one patient was told he would have to wait another...
Caroline Jones: 4. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on out-of-hours GP services in South Wales West? OAQ51664
Caroline Jones: First Minister, we accept that we can't deliver the health service in the same way we did 70 years ago—[Interruption.]
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, we accept that services have to change and that we can't deliver health in the same way we did 70 years ago. However, any change has to be based upon clinical need and be clinically led. By that, I don't mean the clinical director of the local health board. Change needs to be driven by the doctors and nurses and supported by doctors and nurses. I've been...
Caroline Jones: What actions is the Welsh Government taking to prevent flooding in South Wales West?
Caroline Jones: Yes, I will, David.
Caroline Jones: Yes, but it's been in the paper, David, and on the news, that your party also wants to cut it.
Caroline Jones: The UK Government must stop wasting the taxes of hard-working taxpayers and instead concentrate on ensuring that large multinationals pay their fair share. They should scrap HS2 and invest in infrastructure projects that truly benefit the UK, such as ultrafast broadband and universal mobile coverage. The Welsh Government need to learn from past mistakes. They need to deliver a long-term...
Caroline Jones: No, no, no. This is fact. This is fact. This fact. In the last few days we learnt of a project—[Interruption.] No. We learnt of a project that is supposed to deliver wells, water pumps and irrigation across southern Africa, yet nearly 70 per cent of that funding did not go to the people it was supposed to reach. It went on consultancy fees, with staff being paid £600 per day. How can we...
Caroline Jones: She was, she was. That's why she left. Debt used to fund vanity projects like HS2, which will cost the UK taxpayer over £70 billion and has been monumentally mismanaged—the row surrounding outgoing staff being overpaid by nearly £2 million just the latest in a catalogue of waste, which has seen the costs more than double, and some reports suggest it could be triple the initial costs by...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. I'd like to move the amendment tabled by my colleague Neil Hamilton. UKIP tabled amendment 1 to highlight the situation we find ourselves in with regard to the Welsh economy. Both the Conservatives and Labour blame each other for the dire economic situation in Wales, when in fact they're both to blame. Labour have been in charge of Welsh economic development for nearly 20...
Caroline Jones: I thank the Member for her questions here. I would like to assure you that the work is ongoing and all the points that you've raised we will be taking note of and dealing with them. Thank you.
Caroline Jones: I thank Simon for acknowledging the positive work, which is ongoing. We have water filters and fountains around the buildings, cutting down on the need for bottled water. We provide extensive recycling facilities across the estate for most materials, including plastic, and we have clear signage and communication initiatives to raise awareness of the recycling facilities and we encourage...
