Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Just to go back to Russell's point earlier in terms of why we couldn't get into the first Health and Care Act, the point there is that the scope of the Health and Care Act was for England, so that's why it was difficult for us to say—. It was about the scope of the Act itself, which meant that it was difficult for us to join in. It was just applied to England, so they were reluctant....
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. I do think that we do need to keep a weather eye on what is happening, and we do need to bear in mind that this is a very brief Bill. So, what we're talking about here is a framework, and what will be important is what will go into that framework, and that's why it's important that we'll have an opportunity to come back to discuss the details of what goes into the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. There are lots of questions there. If I'm honest, this is not the most exciting Bill that this Senedd has ever seen. What we're doing here is responding to the fact that what has happened in England is they've presented this new Bill that will allow some organisations, perhaps, not to have to retender. Sometimes that takes a lot of energy, effort and finance, when actually...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The draft Bill seeks to bring forward two regulation-making powers. Firstly, it will include a disapplication power, which will enable Welsh Ministers to dissaply provisions of the UK Government procurement Act that would otherwise apply to NHS health service procurement in Wales. Secondly, it will include a creation power to enable the Welsh Ministers to develop and implement a new,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to make a statement on the Health Service Procurement (Wales) Bill, which I introduced to the Senedd yesterday, together with the accompanying explanatory memorandum and regulatory impact assessment. The Bill seeks to reform the way in which certain NHS healthcare services are procured in Wales, bringing forward primary...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: One of the main diseases affecting people in Wales, namely cancer, has also had key research success. Our researchers recruited over 1,000 volunteers to the SYMPLIFY process, which was a crucial, new early identification test for multiple cancers, which can identify over 50 cancers. In addition, the FAKTION clinical trial on breast cancer, which is also Welsh-based, has also had success in...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Finally, I want to mention that strong public involvement in research, design and delivery improves the quality and relevance of research, helping to ensure that research delivers public benefit and addresses public need, and this is something that I know is at the heart of Health and Care Research Wales activities. Diolch yn fawr.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. First of all, I want to thank Russell George for bringing this important issue to the Chamber.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The medical research landscape is broad, from funding pre-clinical laboratory research to the more applied clinical research that takes place in the NHS. My responsibilities are focused on more applied medical research, which I think makes a vital contribution to treatment, development and evaluation, service organisation and delivery, and, crucially, outcomes for patients. I'm aware of the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. I did carry out some very informal discussions with the general secretary of Unite who happened to be in Wales on the weekend. I think it's really important that I emphasise that these were informal discussions because Unite, by not calling off their industrial action, have excluded themselves now from the negotiating table. So, everything that's been negotiated this...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. This hasn't been an easy offer to negotiate, and what we have managed to do is to get a situation where, on top of the £1,400, which was the recommendation by the independent pay review body, what we've done now is we've found an additional 3 per cent—1.5 per cent of which will be consolidated and 1.5 per cent that will be non-consolidated. And what that actually means in...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. And as you know, we've been negotiating very diligently over a very long period of time, very intense negotiations, and I'm really pleased that we were able to come to a conclusion on Thursday night. That was put, certainly to the officials within those unions, and the vast majority of them, I'm delighted to say, called off their industrial action, which is not...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. A written statement has literally just been issued on this topic, but I’m happy to set out some aspects of the offer to NHS workers in order to stave off industrial action, if that is helpful.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Well, you're right, and I think we just have to constantly be trying to learn from what works. So, for example, we are now targeting screening when it comes to bowel cancer, and people are sent a faecal immunochemical test, and it's been really interesting to see that people seem to be more willing to use the FIT test that they can do at home, rather than coming into a...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Well, I'm really keen on making sure that we use the most up-to-date technology to try and improve our systems. That is why, already, we've spent £86 million on these new radiotherapy machines; that's why we've spent £3 million on an electronic records system; and we've also got new robotic surgery technology that is already in place and working and getting lots of...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Well, there are of course lots of campaigns that are already under way in relation to less survivable cancers by some of those organisations. What I'm not going to do is—. I've just published a plan; we're not going to start bolting new things onto the plan. This has been developed by people, it's been worked on by organisations across Wales, by the NHS. So, what's there...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. I think we've got to be aware that one in two people are likely to get cancer, and so we're all touched by cancer in some way or another. And so, it is important that we do our very best to get a better understanding. Every day, we're getting new developments, new technologies and new genetic improvements. So, all of these things I hope will make sure that we just keep on...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. I think a lot of people, unfortunately, find out that they have cancer as they go to emergency departments—the symptoms don’t show up until the last minute, and obviously that’s very difficult for them, and part of what we’re talking about in this plan is ensuring that there are acute oncology services available in our emergency departments. This is an NHS plan,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Russell. I'm pleased that you agree it's a good thing that we've got dates and goals and targets, and I think it is important to hold people to account; you hold me to account, I hold the health boards to account. So, it is important to have those in, and I am sure you will note the workforce implementation plan that's been published today also has very clear targets against...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We also asked for a focus on implementing the 21 nationally agreed pathways for Wales. This is at the heart of how we will ensure that patients get the right care wherever they are in Wales. These standardised pathways help us to focus on improving consistency and quality of care, and they include the new non-specific symptom pathway for Wales, which plugs into our rapid diagnostic centres....
