I’m pleased to have the opportunity to speak today. We know that one in four of us will be affected by a mental health problem in our lives, so it is vital that we give this delivery plan the attention and scrutiny that it deserves. I just wanted to make some brief remarks today on two parts of the plan. The first relate to my previous calls for a well-resourced, comprehensive and outcome-based dementia strategy for Wales, which is something that I’ve called for previously when I led a short debate on this in the Chamber, back in January. I’m delighted that the delivery plan includes the commitment to have a dementia strategy for Wales and I’m looking forward to hearing more detail from the Welsh Government on that, but I did just want to pick up on a few points related to that.

We know that there’s been fantastic progress in turning Wales into a dementia-friendly nation and I welcome what the Minister said about continuing to focus on that today. There are over 20 established dementia-friendly communities currently in Wales and I’m very proud that my constituency in Torfaen was the second in Wales to achieve dementia-friendly status. Whether it is businesses or local health services, right through to Big Pit National Mining Museum, I have seen this initiative make a huge difference to people’s lives. When you consider the numbers of people that are being diagnosed now with dementia, and the need to actually find a way through the challenges that that presents to us as a society, I think this is one of the most powerful things we can do to actually combat what can be a counsel of despair in the face of dementia. So, I’m delighted that the Welsh Government are continuing to focus on that.

The other area that I wanted to talk about was diagnosis rates, which are clearly absolutely vital, because it’s at that point when a patient gets the diagnosis, which is inevitably a devastating one for families, that they can start to come to terms with it and plan for what lies ahead. Of course, we know that dementia diagnosis rates in Wales are the lowest in the UK at present. I very much welcome the commitment in the delivery plan to look at a 50 per cent target for GP dementia registers and the stepping stone this provides for gradual yearly increases, but I do think that there is a lot more work to do. Fifty per cent would not be enough for illnesses like cancer and we should be, I think, aiming far higher than that with dementia. I’m aware that the Alzheimer’s Society has called for targets of around 75 per cent in each LHB by 2021. Even if you look at other parts of the UK, such as Northern Ireland, where the rates are 64 per cent, I think that we could be aiming higher. So, I know that the Minister is committed to increasing targets annually and I would be interested in further detail on how we plan to grow that target going forward.

Of course, diagnosis is meaningless without the right support in place afterwards. In fact, a diagnosis can make it harder to cope without the right support in place. The other area that I wanted to pick up on today was the need for named support workers. At the moment, only 39 per cent of patients in Wales get a support worker. I’m delighted that the delivery plan identifies the need to improve this, but I do believe that the suggested one support worker per two GP clusters needs urgently looking at again. This was a point that I made in my short debate. The Alzheimer’s Society have estimated that would be around 32 workers for the whole of Wales, but, at the current diagnosis rate, we would need around 370 to meet needs, and as many as 650 workers if we are to get diagnosis rates up to 75 per cent. So, I hope that that is something that the Welsh Government will be able to look at.

I very much welcome the commitment in the delivery plan to continue to drive improvements in adult mental health wards, based on the outcomes of the spot checks. But I also hope that the Welsh Government will continue to work hard to include the adult mental health wards in the Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016, which is a commitment that was given by the previous Minister to do as soon as is practicable. I think that’s vitally important.

Just finally, then, turning to children and young people, I very much recognise the points that have been made about the CAMHS service, and it’s something that I’ve raised many, many times in committee myself. I hope that the new committee will continue to have a focus on that. We’ve seen good progress by the Welsh Government, but we cannot afford to let up for one moment in that area. We’ve got to continue to have the resources, but also to drive it forward politically, and I hope that the Government and the committee, working together, can continue to drive improvements in that area. Thank you.