Leanne Wood: Will you take an intervention?
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. There have been many references from many Members in this Chamber to the inverse care law, that, essentially, the section of the population most in need of care services often face the most barriers to accessing them. We've also noted on several occasions that people in the poorest areas also face the greatest burden of disease. This is due to a combination of the industrial...
Leanne Wood: You need to change the south Wales programme if you're to have a chance of recruiting.
Leanne Wood: I agree with you that the public should be listened to. It's a real shame that the 60,000 responses to the consultation that went into the south Wales programme, back in 2014, weren't listened to. Minister, I can reveal, this afternoon, that, in the last couple of hours, the overwhelming majority of consultants at the Royal Glamorgan have agreed, in a meeting, that a full 24-hour A&E should...
Leanne Wood: Do you agree with what the First Minister said yesterday, that it should be the decision made by doctors about the future of the A&E department at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital?
Leanne Wood: Is it still the Welsh Government's policy that Wales should have fewer accident and emergency departments, so that staff can be concentrated on fewer sites—yes or no?
Leanne Wood: Since raising the lack of support for neurodivergent children, I've had many people get in touch who've been affected. People are growing increasingly frustrated with the system. The picture that is painted by people trying to access support for ADHD, autism and similar issues is, frankly, a grim one. The only conclusion we can draw is that people, and children in particular, are being failed...
Leanne Wood: A shortage of A&E consultants has been cited as the primary reason for the Cwm Taf health board proposing to cut our A&E services, and the shortage is part of a UK trend, so we're told. The implications of centralisation, such as increased travel times, high levels of ill health, or the overcrowding at other hospitals, seem to be secondary considerations. With that in mind, I want to ask you...
Leanne Wood: What is the Welsh Government doing to recruit hospital consultants in the south of Wales?
Leanne Wood: We've been told by by chiefs at Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board that the accident and emergency department services at the Royal Glamorgan are unsafe because of the lack of permanent consultants. The last one leaves for retirement at the end of March. The same executive board say that an entirely locum-run service is not safe. From a financial point of view, they say it would cost less to...
Leanne Wood: As this Senedd knows, I'm a big champion of the Rhondda tunnel project. I'm also a member of the society that is seeking to reopen this engineering marvel. I'm supportive because the potential for the Rhondda and Afan Valleys is huge if the project can be brought to fruition. If it could be linked with leisure activities, such as the excellent mountain biking and road biking that Rhondda and...
Leanne Wood: 7. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Health and Social Services regarding the value for money of using locum staff in the Welsh NHS? OAQ55060
Leanne Wood: Yes.
Leanne Wood: Yes, I agree with that point, because Jones's work exposed that the Government plans for additional prison places will see Wales become a net importer of prisoners. We simply don't need any more prisons in Wales, so you're absolutely right to challenge the justice secretary on that point, that he wants to build another prison. The commission on justice notes that those charged are...
Leanne Wood: Finally we have the opportunity to discuss the devolution of justice and policing to Wales—that's thanks to the landmark report by the Commission on Justice in Wales. I'd like to thank the former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, and all the commission members, whose conclusions and recommendations in this report were unanimous. The report offers both a description and a critique...
Leanne Wood: Figures have emerged from a freedom of information request that my office have submitted on school exclusion rates in Rhondda Cynon Taf. The data provided shows that, over the last two years, there has been a marked rise in the number of fixed-term exclusions. The latest available figures show a rise of nearly 60 per cent on the figures from last year. I understand that the council has now...
Leanne Wood: We all know about the consultants shortage, but the local ratio locally of 15,000 people to one consultant is more than twice as bad as the UK average of 7,000, and, First Minister, those figures are not wrong, because those figures were being quoted just last night in a public meeting by health board officials. This gets to the very heart of the question at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital,...
Leanne Wood: 4. What is the Welsh Government doing to train and recruit medical consultants for hospitals? OAQ55057
Leanne Wood: The mismanagement and poor performance highlighted by my colleagues in the north of Wales is indeed shocking, but I can't help but feel that this is also something that my own constituents may be facing, so I want to talk about the issues facing people in the Cwm Taf health board, as the range of special measures continues to become the new normal. Whilst waiting times may not be as bad as in...
Leanne Wood: Llongyfarchiadau mawr to Treorchy on winning the title of the UK's best high street. It's great that the hard work in this Rhondda town has been recognised, and I'm glad to be able to recognise it here in the Senedd too. Local traders have banded together with local councillors and other community figures to make things happen for themselves. The local chamber of commerce is thriving in a...
