Vaughan Gething: I don't support the amendments, as I believe they're unnecessary. The existing legislation requires the standards to be kept under review. That means they are already subject to regular review, and updated standards are published. There is clear evidence to demonstrate that that has happened. The first set of standards, under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act...
Vaughan Gething: As Rhun ap Iorwerth implied, I do not support the amendment that now appears in his name. But I support the aim of ensuring that health service managers are competent and capable and that those who fail cannot just move on to another job elsewhere in the system. I do not agree that amending this Bill to create a new corporate body and a complex and bureaucratic system of registration is the...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. There are already many systems in place to collect, analyse and publish data across our national health service. Much of this is captured on a Wales and England basis, if not a UK-wide basis, such as the range of national clinical audits. It is what is the done with that data that is, of course, key. Amendments 16, 17 and 18 dealt with the requirement for Welsh Ministers...
Vaughan Gething: I will clearly expect all NHS bodies to demonstrate how they comply with the new quality duty in an open and transparent way. The new annual report will be a key vehicle for evidencing this. The amendments that we have just passed, 16, 17 and 18, will set that requirement out very clearly. This, along with other mechanisms, such as integrated medium-term plans, provides that range of...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. Following considerations at Stage 2, I have had constructive discussions with opposition Members and I am pleased that we've been able to reach a shared position with Angela Burns on this. By specifying in statutory guidance the evidence to be used and the way such evidence has been assessed, that will require NHS bodies to report openly and transparently on the actions...
Vaughan Gething: The elements of quality set out in the Bill are non-exhaustive and deliberately broad, as I said in the debate on the first group. It is intended that quality will align with the internationally recognised definition of quality. And, again, that is intentional, given the broad-ranging functions of NHS bodies, and I do not want to risk diluting that approach or making it cross-purposes. And...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. I want to thank, at the outset, people who have worked on this Bill to date, both the scrutiny we've had through the committee process, as well as officials and all those who engaged in the White Paper stages and wider consultation. We will have various points of disagreement, and some points of agreement, through the passage of this evening. I won't respond to some of the...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the comments and questions. On your questions, there is already an NHS team that is taking—. There was an announcement—you might have seen publicity on it yesterday—in terms of some of the points about search engines and which terms are going to come to the top of those outcomes and results to make sure they're from trusted sources, but also in terms of trying to rebut on...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the series of questions. I think I'll start with some of your early points—I'll try to take them in order. I don't always agree with Matt Hancock, and I certainly don't always agree with Boris Johnson, but, during our COBRA calls, there has been a genuinely serious and grown-up attempt to go through issues and to reach agreement on finding the best way through. In fact, the...
Vaughan Gething: I want to thank you for the comments and questions. I think your story of real experience in the recent past is important for all of us. On 0845, the old 0845 number, that is a cost that phone providers themselves charge and we're not in control of that. That's really frustrating, but we've taken the step to have an all-Wales 111 service so that it's a consistent number, so that we're not...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the series of comments and questions. Your first point about the new team that I've referred to within the Government: the fact that I've instructed the chief exec of NHS Wales to set this up, there should be more than enough stripes, to use your terminology, within the NHS to make sure that people respond with an appropriate level of seniority. It's about co-ordinating the work...
Vaughan Gething: Our NHS will have to make some changes to how it operates. That includes care and advice by phone and information technology. I have decided on a new software system to be made available across Wales to enable video consultations for people with their GPs. We have already introduced an online symptom checker, hosted by our NHS Direct Wales website. There is, of course, the daily update on the...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. The situation in Wales continues to evolve and we now have six confirmed cases. More cases will be diagnosed both here and elsewhere the UK in the coming days. In response to the changing situation, we have jointly developed an action plan with the UK Government and the other national devolved Governments. This builds on our experience of treating infectious diseases and...
Vaughan Gething: Well, on the final point about the impact of activity in China and its place not just within the Chinese economy, but the global economic impact—it's a matter that Ministers are concerned about across the UK. It's been a part of the conversation in COBRA meetings. The challenge is what is our ability to step in and do something in the alternative. This Government may have some levers...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the comments and questions. I want to perhaps start with your final point and the point you made earlier about the way we can choose to behave. There are, unfortunately, always some people who are prepared to try to capitalise and to make financial gain from a problem position. We see it in a wide range of areas and, sadly, I expect there will be people who try to do that over...
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for those questions. I'll just start with a point about business. So, this is about some of the soft powers that, as I said, Government has, and we're already looking to reach out, as I talk to different organisations about that. But there is, you're right, sometimes a difference between some businesses, and in particular larger—it's not just larger—businesses, which...
Vaughan Gething: Now, the Chancellor has already briefed that he's asked his officials to look at the potential impact of coronavirus ahead of the UK budget on 11 March. I actually think we're going to need to see what may be necessary in terms of contingency, and to look not just, if you like, about a straight Barnett share for everything that may or may not happen, but actually to think about the actual...
Vaughan Gething: Yes, thank you for the questions. On the data that Public Health Wales provide, they provide a regular update on the situation in Wales, to see if there is any change in the guidance available, every day at 3 o'clock. Public Health England publish, on behalf of the UK, figures each day, including confirmed cases. In terms of the approach that I set out that we're going to take here in Wales,...
Vaughan Gething: In terms of questions about businesses, there's absolutely no advice or suggestion that people should alter the way that they order goods within or outside the UK. That advice remains in place as it would have been before. On 111, I'm happy to confirm that there is now an all-Wales coronavirus service through the free 111 number. That's a change that we've deliberately made to have a single...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the series of comments and questions. I'll try to make sure that I respond to each of them and I'll try to be brief in doing so, Presiding Officer. There's a point about all of us promoting and using trusted sources of information—so, the information given by the chief medical officer, the information that the Welsh Government website promotes, and Public Health Wales. They...
