Caroline Jones: I would like to thank the Welsh Government for tabling this important debate today. With one in eight people in Wales currently seeking medical help for mental illness and an estimated one in four of us experiencing mental health problems at some point during our lifetimes, it’s clear that we need to give mental health a far higher priority. We therefore welcome the fact that we are today...
Caroline Jones: Yes, I will.
Caroline Jones: I can assure you, you haven’t heard it from me, and these people here you haven’t heard it from either. To whom are you referring?
Caroline Jones: I will.
Caroline Jones: It was a different question, I admit, but it was a question that was asked by the constituents—no, not by UKIP, by the gentleman’s constituents.
Caroline Jones: No problem.
Caroline Jones: To those who wish to derail our exit and hinder our progress on securing a great deal, I urge you to listen to the British people who delivered a clear mandate for Brexit. To our Scottish cousins, I say: you cannot derail our exit. Scottish voters may have voted in favour of remaining in the EU, but they also voted overwhelmingly to remain in the UK not so very long ago. Members, we have to...
Caroline Jones: I was elected. We have to ignore dodgy petitions, political self-interest—yes, there have been petitions which have proved to have inaccuracies on them, online—and political self-interest and those who claim that the United Kingdom cannot stand alone. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a great deal for Wales and Great Britain, and I urge all sides to work together to get the...
Caroline Jones: I would also like thank the First Minister for his statement on Friday and for bringing forward this important debate today. On Thursday, the people of the United Kingdom spoke and spoke loudly. They said: ‘Britain is better off outside the European Union’. It’s highly regrettable that the Prime Minister who gave us this referendum did not have the courage to see it through to its...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, First Minister. The Royal College of General Practitioners tells us that we need 400 full-time equivalent GPs by 2020 if we are to provide good access for all primary care. It is concerning, therefore, that we are training just over 100 GPs a year in Wales, and just 13 per cent of trainee doctors spend any time in general practice. What will your Government do during the fifth...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, the most exciting development in the treatment of cancer in recent times has been the development of stratified medicines, where treatment is personalised to the patient based upon the genetic makeup of their particular cancer. I was deeply concerned to learn that, in Wales, we test for just two genetic markers. Will your Government develop a stratified medicine strategy and...
Caroline Jones: 5. Will the First Minister make a statement on GP recruitment in Wales? OAQ(5)0080(FM)
Caroline Jones: No, Huw, because I’m trying to get through something. Is that all right? However, is it right for people living outside of the UK who pay no tax and national insurance to just continue to benefit from our free healthcare service, or should we insist that those living outside the UK should have health insurance? And the biggest threat to our NHS comes from EU directives. In 2011 the EU...
Caroline Jones: ‘The British Medical Journal’ recently warned that the risk to the NHS would be that it could never afford to return a service in-house once it was contracted out, and top QCs have warned that TTIP poses a real and serious risk to future UK Government decision making in respect of the NHS. This means, if we do remain in the EU, it will become harder and harder to keep the NHS in public...
Caroline Jones: I welcome the opportunity to take part in this debate. Tomorrow every citizen over the age of 18 from every part of the UK gets to decide whether we remain as part of the European Union or whether we become independent once more. This is democracy. People can decide and they can choose for themselves. It will be of little surprise to anyone that I believe that Wales is better off out. My...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Lywydd. I would also like to thank Plaid Cymru for bringing forward this very important debate on health and social care. My amendment seeks to add to the debate while not detracting from the overall motion. I believe passionately that cottage or community hospitals are a part of the solution to reducing the burden on our emergency departments, reducing delayed transfers of care and...
Caroline Jones: I was invited and attended a meeting in North Cornelly—thank you for your answer, Cabinet Secretary—however they were concerned that, within their rent, the service charges such as grass cutting and litter picking were included in their rent. They’d recently received from Valleys to Coast the introduced service charges for picking up litter. This has caused much dismay for these...
Caroline Jones: 14. Will the Minister make a statement on the introduction of service charges for social housing tenants? OAQ(5)0011(CC)
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Lywydd, and thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. The Welsh health survey data once again highlight the need to improve public health messages. Of course, the challenges of increasing levels of obesity are not unique to Wales. However, it’s truly shocking to learn that nearly 60 per cent of Welsh adults are overweight or obese. Cabinet Secretary, with many schools selling...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, as someone who has survived cancer, I can tell you from first-hand experience that early diagnosis is key to survival. GPs are the front line in the fight against cancer, and are critical for early diagnosis. First Minister, Cancer Research UK found that there is a huge variation in GPs’ direct access to diagnostic tests in Wales. What will your Government do over the next...
