Heledd Fychan: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Deputy Minister, an Institute of Welsh Affairs report published last year described communities in Wales as the least empowered in Britain. It further stated that people are facing an arduous and demoralising process to save assets, such as leisure centres, libraries and land, and that it is extremely likely that libraries and land have been lost due to Welsh Ministers...
Heledd Fychan: 9. What steps is the Minister taking to improve recruitment and retention in the NHS? OQ59056
Heledd Fychan: Will you take an intervention?
Heledd Fychan: Will you take an intervention?
Heledd Fychan: The hospital in question, I visited in August, and this is the situation I was told then. I visited again recently, and that was still the situation—just for some context.
Heledd Fychan: Visiting hospitals, visiting picket lines, and speaking to NHS workers, they describe a system in crisis that is stopping them from being able to do their job to the best of their ability. They know that people are dying that they could save, and that is taking a toll on their health and well-being, meaning that retention is increasingly becoming a concern. That's why this is the second step...
Heledd Fychan: The NHS workforce do heroic work every day. I'm sure that all of us have many reasons to thank them for the care that we've had personally, or members of our family have had, let alone our constituents. But, we can't deny the great stress on them or the fact that very experienced staff are leaving every week because they can't deal with the stress anymore.
Heledd Fychan: May I also add my thanks to the clerks, my fellow Members and everyone who provided evidence? As the Chair said in opening this debate, the situation is worse than it was when we were taking evidence, and the situation was grim enough in terms of the future of arts and culture then. And Alun Davies's point is crucially important, I think, in terms of equality, because I despise seeing surveys...
Heledd Fychan: Certainly, I would like to associate myself with all the comments made. The programme was a very difficult one to watch. It does raise questions, because we've rightly been proud of rugby as a national sport alongside football, and everybody should feel safe in the workplace, and they are absolutely abhorrent, those allegations. What has equally been abhorrent, in my view, has been the public...
Heledd Fychan: Thank you, Minister, for this important statement today. I fully accept the point that you've made, we all know people who haven't ticked that box in terms of the Welsh language in the census. But, I have to say that I am concerned in hearing you say a number of times, as the First Minister has also done—you used the words 'just' the census. But, the census is exceptionally important. In...
Heledd Fychan: Thank you, Minister, for your statement today, expanding on the written statement published last week. I clearly welcome the emphasis on how we are focusing on those learners who are in poverty, and we do know that poverty affects attainment. We don't need to rehearse that—we're already aware of it. But, given the cost-of-living crisis specifically, we are seeing more and more learners...
Heledd Fychan: Unfortunately, things are deteriorating. We're seeing examples of people saying, 'Well, there's no point for me to phone the doctor', 'There's no point for me to phone for an ambulance because I'm not going to get there.' I'd like to focus specifically on the impact of the crisis on women, who, of course, count for over 50 per cent of the Welsh population. Again, studies show that the gender...
Heledd Fychan: The lack of investment in treatment for women's health conditions has resulted in cross-border agreement for treatment, but this does not always happen. Pregnant women, new mothers and those who have experienced pregnancy loss often need specialist mental health support, and, in Wales, even before the pandemic, these women have not always been well supported. Early research suggests that the...
Heledd Fychan: What we need to bear in mind is that this is happening in very challenging circumstances, and staff are openly admitting to being at breaking point. Visiting picket lines before Christmas, and speaking to nurses striking for the first time in their lives, they emphasised to me that patient safety was at the forefront of their minds when taking the decision to strike, even more so than pay....
Heledd Fychan: To solve a crisis, you have to acknowledge that there is a crisis. It's a lesson that we always tell our children, 'Be honest; we need to know the truth', but the same is true when it comes to public services. And the truth is that we know, all of us know, from our case work, about people who have lost their lives who would have lived. The headlines are there consistently, and that's what we...
Heledd Fychan: Certainly, and, when I talk about young people, I'm not just talking about those in schools; it extends to cover that group too. And I would ask the Deputy Minister to reflect on that too. I see that time is against me, but, similar to Alun Davies, it's a matter of equality and how we're going to ensure, just in terms of the services that are meant to be there now, that they're...
Heledd Fychan: May I echo my thanks to the committee for all of this work on this vitally important issue. And, similarly, I agree with a number of the points that Alun Davies made. This is an issue of equality, and I was going to raise similar points in terms of residents of South Wales Central. If you think about how—. I represent the Cardiff area, where it's far easier to change your practice; you can...
Heledd Fychan: Thank you, Llywydd. May I ask you review your guidance in terms of hybrid working, given an unfortunate situation that arose in the Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport and International Relations Committee this morning? The start of the meeting had to be postponed as we were scrutinising the draft budget, as the Deputy Minister was unexpectedly not in attendance in the committee...
Heledd Fychan: Thank you, Minister. I'm very pleased to hear your commitment to having discussions this week. Clearly, this isn't an easy situation for anyone, choosing to strike, and it's regrettable that we've reached this point. But it's not unexpected either that we have reached this particular point; the unions made it clear that the Government's offer wasn't going to be acceptable to them. So, will...
Heledd Fychan: Thank you, Minister. I understand that it is a matter for them to prioritise, but as we've heard from a number of Members, there is concern about that non-statutory. We are seeing budget consultations currently in my region where you have questions around, 'Do you want a museum or a library, or do you want social care?' Of course people are going to choose those services, but it also...
