6. 5. Statement: ‘Together for Mental Health’

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:08 pm on 11 October 2016.

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Photo of Angela Burns Angela Burns Conservative 4:08, 11 October 2016

Minister, thank you for the statement today and for publishing the delivery plan yesterday on World Mental Health Day. I have a number of questions I just want to ask you about this. Going back to a question I asked the First Minister, in your statement, in the area where you have your three bullet points, you talk about emphasising the areas that are important to us and you particularly talk about building resilience in individuals and communities to tackle poor mental health and well-being when it occurs. You also go on to talk about the piloting of a social prescription scheme. I raised concerns this morning with the First Minister, so I’d like to ask you directly: can you tell us how much read-across there was between this mental health delivery plan and other Welsh Government Acts, particularly the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act? I think there are some tensions between this implementation plan and that Act, in terms of one consolidating and encouraging individuals to very much do things and be responsible for themselves, and yet the social prescription and the comment about individuals and communities talks very much about actually relying on your community and getting involved in your community. I cited one particular area, but it’s about where you get organisations or community groups that are being closed down under the social services Act, because people are being told to be empowered and to take charge themselves, and yet this mental health delivery plan is all about how we integrate people with mental health, how we build them into communities and how we sustain and support them. So, I would just like to understand the read-across between different Government objectives.

Moving swiftly on, a very brief question: I think the Welsh Government’s Healthy Working Wales awards are an absolutely excellent idea. I just wanted to understand if you were able to offer guidance and mentoring funds to the small workplaces to ensure that the mental health stigma really is removed, because it sounds like a great idea, but we need to bring small organisations as well as large corporates with us.

I finally want to turn to the area of child and adolescent mental health services. I really welcome the fact that you say here,

‘When young people need more specialist mental health services, we are investing almost £8 million annually in specialist CAMHS’.

You also talk about the fact that you are putting together a plan that’s working with partners across agencies to best consider how to meet the emotional and mental health requirements of young people. CAMHS is a great service. I’m glad that you’re putting more money into it, but the problem is that there’s such a gap between the services that can be offered by local government, by partner organisations and by health boards and the kinds of services or conditions that a young person needs to have in order to access CAMHS. First Minister—. I keep calling you ‘First Minister’. I must have a prescience about this. [Interruption.] It is. [Laughter.] Cabinet Secretary, can you confirm or give an opinion as to whether or not you think that this is enough to try to close that gap, because young people need to have an incredibly wide range of conditions in order to be able to access CAMHS? What is happening is that a great many young people with suicidal tendencies, who are self-harming or have multiple conditions or multiple disabilities with conditions are being denied access to CAMHS because they don’t fit those strict criteria. I cannot see in the mental health implementation plan that you’ll be able to actually close that gap that well.

Finally, Presiding Officer, because I know I did just say ‘finally’. [Interruption.] I did. This is my last ‘final’. In the plan you talk an awful lot about measuring outcomes, which is something that is very dear to a Conservative’s heart. What is less clear is how you’re going to measure those outcomes. You talk about asking for people’s views. There’s not much clarity over whether it’s quantitative research or qualitative research. On an awful lot of the outcomes, where you’re going to do the measurements, you don’t identify what people are going to be measured against and what their baselines are. So, I’d like your view on how well we think we can really monitor this plan to ensure that it does deliver for the people of Wales.