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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:23 pm on 11 October 2016.

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Photo of Lynne Neagle Lynne Neagle Labour 4:23, 11 October 2016

Can I thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement? If I could just start with CAMHS, I very much welcome the extra investment that the Welsh Government has put into CAMHS, and I'm really pleased that we're starting to see some progress, but, as you know yourself, waiting lists still remain unacceptably high. It was something that the children's commissioner highlighted before the children’s committee last week, and we also know that there are areas of regional variation that are problematic. Can I just ask—we’re part way through the programme now—how exactly the Welsh Government is monitoring this and also monitoring any regional variations?

At the Samaritans’ impact launch yesterday, we learnt about their pilot schools programme, DEAL, delivering emotional awareness and listening in schools, which is a way of trying to improve the support that's available to young people in a school setting, and I welcome the commitment in the plan to looking at initiatives like that. Is that the kind of initiative that you would look to roll out across Wales, and will you be able to discuss this with the Cabinet Secretary for Education to see whether that might be possible?

If I can just move on to dementia, as you know, I have been a champion of the need for a fully resourced dementia strategy for Wales. Dementia is, I believe, the biggest challenge that health and social care now faces in Wales, and I believe it should be on a par with conditions like cancer. I’m really pleased that the commitment to a dementia strategic plan remains in the plan that you published yesterday.

I do just have a couple of questions, though. One of the areas of concern that I’ve identified previously is that the support workers, welcome though they are, will be done on the basis of GP clusters—a minimum of one dementia support worker per two GP clusters in Wales. That would allow a total of just 32 across Wales. Even on the basis of our current diagnosis rates, for everybody to have a dementia support worker we’d need around 370. So, I’d like to ask if that’s something you’re willing to keep under review, and whether that is something you will look at further when this plan goes out to consultation.

Similarly with diagnosis rates, they’re currently at 43 per cent in Wales, which is the lowest rate in the UK at the moment. The 2016 target is 50 per cent. The Alzheimer’s Society thinks the figure should be more like 75 per cent. It would be unthinkable if 50 per cent of people with cancer in Wales didn’t get a diagnosis. So, is that also something that you will continue to keep under review, and look to introduce more ambitious targets as time goes on?

Finally, any plan is only as good as its actual implementation on the ground. The cancer delivery plan has been driven forward by Welsh Government with some considerable success. Will you look at what mechanisms we can put in place to ensure that the dementia plan is driven forward at a senior Welsh Government level? Thank you.