Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, the proposed tidal lagoon for Swansea will be the first such scheme in the world and, as such, is unproven technology. The developers claim the scheme will deliver 320 MW of installed capacity, but we have no way of knowing how much electricity will be actually generated. As we have seen from the Ramsey sound tidal scheme, things don’t always go to plan. Cabinet...
Caroline Jones: 6. What is the Welsh Government’s policy on youth justice? OAQ(5)0084(CC)
Caroline Jones: 9. Will the Minister outline the Welsh Government’s priorities on tackling child poverty in south Wales? OAQ(5)0081(CC)
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. It is pleasing to note that progress has been made in reducing child poverty. However, we still have an awful long way to go if we are to meet the goal we all share of eradicating child poverty once and for all. I note from your statement today that you will be unable to meet your target to eradicate child poverty by 2020, and to a degree you...
Caroline Jones: I apologise for a similar question, but, First Minister, with around 400,000 children living in south Wales, the fact that the region is still without a dedicated multidisciplinary paediatric rheumatology service is shocking. Currently, services are being provided part time by an adult rheumatologist, but there is no formal clinical network or adequate multidisciplinary input. What plans does...
Caroline Jones: Finally, Cabinet Secretary, there is much publicity and concern at present regarding top-up fees in care homes and what these fees are being used for. How can we assure relatives and, indeed, residents in care homes that their fees are being used appropriately?
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your answer, Cabinet Secretary. In 2014, a review of residential care, ‘A Place to Call Home?’, was completed. It concluded that too many older people living in care homes had an unacceptable quality of life. Although a series of requirements for action on care homes has been implemented by Sarah Rochira, our older people’s commissioner, who is dedicated and has a team of...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Lywydd. Cabinet Secretary, it was extremely distressing to read in the papers of a family’s torment of an 86-year-old man who killed his dementia-suffering wife, aged 85, and then, himself unable to cope, stepped in front of a train. He was his wife’s devoted carer and they leave six children who feel let down and claim social services provision was inadequate. This is...
Caroline Jones: I move amendment 1 in my name. Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. I would like to thank the Welsh Conservatives for bringing forward this debate today. As the Welsh Affairs Committee discovered, the increasing divergence between the healthcare systems over the border not only causes confusion for patients who rely on cross-border services, but also difficulty in accessing services. As others will no...
Caroline Jones: Minister, one of my constituents with additional learning needs has been waiting over seven months for an appointment with the child and adolescent mental health services, and in the interim has been receiving just a few hours of schooling each week. How can we expect young people like my constituent to reach their full potential if we are denying them a full and rich education? Minister,...
Caroline Jones: 9. What action is the Welsh Government taking to improve the educational outcomes for young people with additional learning needs? OAQ(5)0053(EDU)
Caroline Jones: I’d like to thank Dr Atherton for his report, and record my thanks to Professor Jones for holding the fort following Dr Hussey’s retirement. Dr Atherton makes it clear that the biggest health challenge facing our nation is tackling the health inequalities between the richest and poorest in our country. The fact that the gap in life expectancy between those living in our most and least...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, with nearly 2,000 deaths in Wales each year, many of them preventable, sepsis is one of the biggest killers most people aren’t aware of. While educating the public to recognise the signs, and ensuring steps are taken in the NHS to prevent the onset of sepsis are vital, so too is ensuring that our healthcare professionals recognise the signs. Many sepsis survivors owe their...
Caroline Jones: Yes, certainly.
Caroline Jones: Thank you, David. It’s going to be very difficult to keep up with the demand, as one in two of us is going to get cancer, but we can only try our best. We would also support the Welsh Conservatives’ suggestion of a mobile cancer treatment service, particularly for rural areas. There is no single solution to delivering improvements to cancer care in Wales but many small steps we can take....
Caroline Jones: I would like to thank Plaid Cymru for tabling this debate today. The Welsh Government’s refreshed cancer delivery plan outlines the scale of the problem we face. Cancer care has vastly improved over the years and, as a result, more and more people are surviving cancer. However, we are failing badly when it comes to early diagnosis and have some of the worst five-year survival rates in the...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, the UK Government have today announced additional moneys for the Welsh block grant as a result of the autumn statement. Given the challenges outlined in the Welsh Government’s cancer delivery plan, namely the equipment shortages that are holding back earlier cancer diagnoses and consequently survival rates, will you please give a commitment to spend a large proportion of...
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. I’m pleased to see that the Wales for Africa programme continues to be a success, particularly the Wales for Africa health links. I was delighted to learn that, last year, we saw 38 skills exchange visits from Wales to Africa. As we saw from the Ebola outbreak, it’s vital that we take an international approach to many of the global health...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, in recent weeks, the media have been reporting that Tata plans to make a significant investment in the Port Talbot plant of around £0.5 billion. What discussions have the Welsh Government had with Tata regarding their investment plans? Do you know whether they plan to reline the blast furnaces or introduce arc furnaces to the Port Talbot site? Thank you.
Caroline Jones: First Minister, the key to improving cancer survival rates is early diagnosis. It is therefore hugely welcome that the new cancer delivery plan for Wales is overhauling the GP cancer referrals by piloting diagnostic centres in Cwm Taf Local Health Board and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Local Health Board. However, the delivery plan states that improving access to diagnostics is an...
