Caroline Jones: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. The Assembly passed the nurse staffing levels Act last year with the promise that this new legislation would deliver safeguards for patient safety and put an end to situations where nurses find they have insufficient time to properly care for patients. Your Government is currently consulting on the statutory guidance that leaves out any mention of the recommended...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, the overspending by the local health boards can be equated to the large amounts spent on agency nursing. Last year, the Welsh NHS was spending £2.5 million each week on agency staff, which will undoubtedly be cut back next year. However, we simply don’t have the permanent staff available to make up the shortfall, so it will be patient care that suffers....
Caroline Jones: Will the Cabinet Secretary outline the actions the Welsh Government is taking to improve Welsh patients access to clinical trials in Wales?
Caroline Jones: First Minister, both Conservative and Labour Governments in Westminster, and successive Labour, Plaid and Liberal coalitions here in Wales, have failed to allow for sufficient funding for social care. As a result of—[Interruption.] As a result of decades of underfunding, we are approaching a crisis point in social care, and despite the fact that our population is ageing fast, neither you...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, I welcome the news that south Wales is possibly to get a new prison. As someone who has worked in the prison service for many years, I know only too well the problems with overcrowding, which make for an unsafe environment for both prisoners and staff. Having additional prisons in south Wales will allow more prisoners to be housed closer to their homes. This is a massive...
Caroline Jones: Minister, some of the media reports on this matter have been quite upsetting. To see young girls missing out on weeks of their education each year because of their biological make-up, and live in poverty, is unacceptable. Minister, can you update us on the discussions your Government have had with UK and European Union institutions about removing the value added tax on feminine hygiene...
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary, and I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Andrew Blakeman and his team for the open and transparent way in which they approached the review and for their excellent recommendations. We all accept that the NHS doesn’t have access to unlimited funds; however, we also all accept that there are times when a novel treatment that...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, First Minister, for that answer. I have been dealing with a constituent whose wheelchair had to go in for repair. He was left without a suitable alternative, as this was a bespoke chair, for over two months and has been unable to successfully contact anyone for updates. It was only after I contacted the chief executive of the local health board that any action was taken. Frankly,...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, unfortunately, the narrative around rough sleeping has been completely toxic. Rather than seeing rough sleepers as poor, unfortunate souls forced to find shelter in shop doorways facing hypothermia and starvation, many have seen them and branded them as delinquents and a scourge to be removed from our high streets. First Minister, do you agree with me that, rather than serving...
Caroline Jones: 8. Will the First Minister outline how the Welsh Government is supporting disabled people to remain active members of their community? OAQ(5)0520(FM)
Caroline Jones: I thank the Member for her question. I’d like to say that, at the moment, we are looking just at two charging points in Tŷ Hywel, but obviously, we’ll see the success of this, and we’re interested in looking at this positively and reducing the carbon emissions footprint. We want to progress with this idea, so with progression I would anticipate that we would be looking at other sites.
Caroline Jones: I’d like to thank the Member again for asking about the electric vehicles. I’d like to say that we will need to go through the proper procurement process, and this is going to take some time. But following the survey that was sent out in February, there was a more positive response to electric vehicles, and we have responded affirmatively. I’d like to say that we are hoping and being...
Caroline Jones: I thank the Member for his question. I would like to say that, following on from my response to your question on this matter in October, I am pleased to confirm that arrangements are in hand for two charging points to be installed on the estate. These will utilise a pay-as-you-go card/keyfob payment system that will allow for charging of electric vehicles on site and an easy payment scheme...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, the Welsh Government provide the City and County of Swansea with around £300 million per year to deliver public service to the people of Swansea. In the most recent National Survey for Wales, the number of people who felt that the City and County of Swansea delivered high-quality services was just over 50 per cent. Cabinet Secretary, do you believe that this represents...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, this is the latest data breach to hit our health service, and this particular breach is devastating for the staff concerned. Although no patient data were involved on this occasion, it does highlight the concerns of many that the NHS cannot be trusted with personal information. Earlier this month, a former nurse was sacked by Hywel Dda university health board for breaching...
Caroline Jones: Leader of the house, the business rate revaluation is putting our high street at risk. Many small businesses are facing huge hikes in their rates bills, yet their turnover is not increasing. For many, the only alternative is to seek rental properties with smaller rateable values off the high street, and this could be the final straw that breaks the camel’s back for small, independent...
Caroline Jones: UKIP fully support the motion before us today.The Family Fund provides an invaluable service to families with disabled children and it is highly regrettable that the Welsh Government took the decision to cut the fund. The loss of £5.5 million from the Family Fund in Wales means that thousands of families are being denied the kind of support that families in the rest of the UK enjoy. I...
Caroline Jones: I’d like to thank the Welsh Conservatives for proposing this debate today. Securing better health outcomes for children and young people is one of the most important tasks facing us in this Assembly. Previous Assemblies and the Welsh Government have taken steps to improve child health, but it isn’t enough according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in their annual...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, Wales has been the trailblazer in so many issues, so it’s doubly disappointing that, on the issue of abolishing letting agent fees, we are so far behind the rest of Britain. Letting agency fees make it near impossible for many families to enter the private rented sector and increases the demand for social housing. Cabinet Secretary, there is absolutely no evidence that...
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. Stroke, unfortunately, affects far too many people in Wales—the majority of which are preventable. Here in Wales, around 7,000 people have a stroke each year. One in eight strokes are fatal within the first 30 days, and one in four are fatal within the first year. Stroke kills twice as many women as breast cancer, and more men than prostrate...
