Caroline Jones: First Minister, one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare in the twenty-first century is the dramatic rise in antimicrobial resistance. There have been a few cases in China where resistance to last-resort antibiotics has been seen. Unless drastic action is taken, we will be living in the world that existed before the discovery of penicillin, where people were dying from the simplest of...
Caroline Jones: I’m pleased to take part in this debate today. With the number of people aged 65 and over set to increase by about a third over the next 15 to 20 years, and a third of the adult population of Wales having at least one chronic illness, we are becoming more and more dependent on our social care sector.Unfortunately, cuts to local authority budgets have placed additional strain on social care,...
Caroline Jones: I’d like to thank the clerks, the health committee and the Research Service for their assistance during our inquiry. I would also like to thank all those who gave evidence to us during the course of our inquiry. Over the course of our inquiry, the majority of stakeholders told us that, while things were slightly better this year, they were still unprepared for the winter period and facing...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, the HIW report focused primarily on wet age-related macular degeneration services, but the problems highlighted reflect wider problems with ophthalmology services in Wales. Waiting lists for ophthalmology are excessively high. RNIB Cymru have repeatedly highlighted that patients are going blind whilst waiting for treatment. Every time the RNIB raise this issue, they’re...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, having attended the recent AGM of the Swansea Council for Voluntary Service, I was amazed by the sheer number of voluntary organisations offering health-related support operating in my region. I was already aware of the excellent work undertaken by the likes of Tŷ Elis in Porthcawl and the Sandville Self Help Centre in Ton Kenfig, but, at the SCVS meeting, I met people...
Caroline Jones: What steps is the Welsh Government taking to protect the Welsh countryside from over-development?
Caroline Jones: First Minister, just over two years ago, a Welsh Government review of the Veterans’ NHS Wales service found that veterans were waiting up to 80 days for an initial assessment, and up to 140 days from assessment. The review also highlighted the fact that the service would face additional pressures, resulting from the UK defence and security review. In total, 15 recommendations were made as a...
Caroline Jones: [Continues.]—on past Plenaries. On past Plenaries. The evidence is there.
Caroline Jones: Yes, I would, actually.
Caroline Jones: I feel this is rich. You constantly make comments across the Chamber about Neil Hamilton not living here, and living in England, across the border, so I think that what you’re saying is quite rich, actually.
Caroline Jones: Yes. We’re looking at it on past—
Caroline Jones: I can’t take another one Jeremy, I’m so sorry. Those are not my words, they are comments from the BMA. Both the BMA and the Royal College of General Practitioners have, for the last three or four years, been warning of an impending crisis in general practice. They have both been calling for an increase in GP numbers, but their calls have sometimes been ignored. Yes, the Welsh Government...
Caroline Jones: Yes, certainly, Janet.
Caroline Jones: Thank you. This, combined with the fact that GP training posts are not being filled, the fact that many GPs are seeking early retirement, and the large number who are seeking to work part-time due to workload pressures, is a recipe for disaster. General practice is facing increasing and unprecedented pressures. There is a significant and growing gap between the demand placed upon it and its...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Lywydd. I wish to move the motion before you tabled in my name. The first contact the most of us have with our national health service is through our GP. Thankfully, for the vast majority of us, this is the only contact with the NHS. There are just under 2,000 general practitioners in Wales working out of the 454 GP practices across Wales. While this sounds like a lot, it equates to...
Caroline Jones: I’d like to thank Julie, Dai, Rhun, Mark, Hefin and Jenny for tabling this individual Member’s debate and for giving us all the opportunity to discuss this very important topic. The contaminated blood scandal is one of the darkest periods in the history of our NHS. The fact that people who sought help from the health service were exposed to deadly viruses is shocking enough, but the fact...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Wales spends significantly more on health per head than they do across the border in England. However, this has not led to significantly better outcomes. Welsh patients are generally waiting longer for treatment than English patients—twice as long for a cataract operation and nearly three times as long for a hip operation. Can you explain why, Cabinet...
Caroline Jones: Finally, Cabinet Secretary, the holy grail in cancer screening is the development of a reliable testing regime for lung cancer. Cardiff University, in a recent trial, found that the use of low-dose CT scans for lung cancer screening has no long-term psychosocial impact on patients, making it an excellent tool for detecting lung cancer early, when there’s a better chance of survival. Does...
Caroline Jones: Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. One area that could benefit from improved screening is prostate cancer. A recent study published in ‘The Lancet’ showed that using multiparametric MRI on men who had high prostate-specific antigen levels increases detection of aggressive tumours, and spares many from the need to have a biopsy and its associated side-effects. What plans does...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Lywydd. Cabinet Secretary, one of our most effective weapons for fighting cancer is population-level screening. I welcome the recent announcement made by the Minister for public health about the move to better methods of screening for both bowel and cervical cancer. However, no matter how we improve the screening techniques, our biggest battle is convincing the public to participate...
