9. 6. Statement: Improving Care for Major Health Conditions

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:02 pm on 4 October 2016.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 5:02, 4 October 2016

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, there are just two areas I want to ask you about, if that’s okay. I’m surprised that you haven’t mentioned dementia at all in your statement this afternoon. Dementia’s one of the four biggest killers, an extremely prevalent disease, and it’s growing in prevalence as well in Wales and other parts of the UK, and yet there is not one single reference to dementia in the whole of your statement, which is supposed to be on major health conditions. I’m very disappointed by that, and perhaps you could give us an update on what the Welsh Government is doing to tackle dementia, and indeed to encourage health professionals to actually diagnose dementia.

Secondly, there’s only one reference to children in the whole of your statement, and that’s in relation to the work that is being undertaken in terms of the structured education programme, SEREN, which, of course, is something that I welcome very much indeed. But there’s no other mention of children throughout the document, and, as you will know, children and young people very often face life-limiting chronic conditions, and very often require a great deal of support as a result of that. I wonder whether you could tell us what specific work is being done in relation to the health conditions that you’ve referred to in your statement to support children and young people with those conditions, and, indeed, what action you are taking as a Welsh Government specifically to expand the role of school nurses in supporting the young people and children in our schools who are living with these sorts of conditions, and indeed others that might affect children and young people. Thank you.