<p>Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople</p>

Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 2:47 pm on 17 May 2017.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 2:47, 17 May 2017

So you keep telling us. Some of the figures that the First Minister didn’t accept this week were that waiting times for CAMHS haven’t improved. He claimed things had moved on significantly. We all know that if you want to demonstrate improvement, you simply take the month where figures were at their worst as your starting point and compare with more recent ones and, unless the performance is worse, the maths will show an improvement. That’s what the First Minister did yesterday. In reality, an honest look at CAMHS waiting times shows that, prior to July 2013, the percentage of children waiting over 26 weeks never went above 10 per cent. Then, waiting times skyrocketed to 36 per cent waiting over 26 weeks in September 2015, before, yes, recovering to the current level of 20.5 per cent in February this year, which is when we have the most recent figures. An improvement in a period of time, but not overall. Do you accept that this is a more accurate reflection of the performance of CAMHS, and when will you accept that the First Minister or yourself simply standing there saying that targets are being met is a long way from the reality faced by desperate staff and desperate patients who share with us as Assembly Members their experiences?