Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 2:25 pm on 5 October 2016.
I thank the Member for the question. I appreciate that he has a particular perspective on this, but services have not been lost; they’ve been moved, and they’ve been improved. You quote the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, and we take seriously what they say. We recognise there is real pressure across the UK and in Wales as well. That in particular makes it even more important that the right model of care is provided, and that we don’t try and staff and run models that are unsustainable and don’t provide the right quality of care for people when they need them, because we’re talking about a small number of really sick children who need not just high-quality but very specialist care.
What the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have said in their review is that the move of the specialist service to Glangwili has improved outcomes and improved compliance with national standards. That’s why we’re moving ahead with the business case that I’m expecting from the health board about the next stage of work in Glangwili to further improve the service. I think that people should take confidence from that. Also, I look forward to having a report back from the royal college’s review team that were recently in Glangwili to look again at the service and give us more reassurance about the quality of service and outcomes that Pembrokeshire parents are receiving. Of course, I met Pembrokeshire mothers when I recently visited Glangwili, to understand directly from them the quality of care that they’re receiving at a really important and difficult time in life, not just for them as a parent, but obviously for their child as well. So, I’ve been impressed by the professionalism and the quality of care that Pembrokeshire parents are receiving in Glangwili.