6. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on access to mental health services in Wales? OAQ(5)0160(HWS)

The Welsh Government is committed to the continuous improvement of access to mental health services in Wales and to support this we have increased funding for mental health services to £629 million in this financial year.

There’s been a lot of concern already expressed about mental health services in north Wales and I can tell you that my postbag is just as bad now as it was before the Tawel Fan scandal emerged into the public domain. One of the concerns that has been raised with me is about capacity, and Llyr’s already picked up on this, but that capacity problem that we have in terms of inpatient beds is requiring some vulnerable people to sleep on sofas in open lounge areas; some vulnerable individuals are being put into inappropriate male wards—young women, for example—and others, of course, are having to be transferred hundreds of miles to other inpatient care settings, all of which, I am sure you will agree, is totally unacceptable. Given that this is a health board that has been in special measures for almost two years now, and that these things are happening on your watch, Cabinet Secretary, what are you personally doing to make sure that these sorts of bad and unacceptable practices are stamped out immediately in the health service in north Wales?

I thank the Member for his follow-up question. I understand you’ve directly engaged with the health board on a number of these issues. As I’ve said in response to previous questions, it’s important that we do see real improvement. The change in leadership has been a step forward. We recognise, though, that the way in which some of the services are currently organised is not as we wish it to be, and that does mean some people don’t receive the service that we would wish them to.

On the point about where vulnerable people are placed for a period of time, on the particular point about sofas, my understanding is that a conversation has taken place with that service user, that person, about what their preference is, because they’ve been offered on some occasions a transfer, and they’ve declined, and they’d like to stay in that particular place. It is a temporary measure until they move to an appropriate setting. But it is not an appropriate long-term position to be in, where that is happening to any of our patients. It should be an extreme measure rather than a regular one. So, I’ve made clear, and our officials are making clear with the health board, that the current practice isn’t appropriate, and they do need to move on and improve it, and have the appropriate capacity in the appropriate place to deliver on the needs that exist.

So, as I say in answer to other questions, I won’t try and dodge the reality that some parts of the service are not delivering as they should do, and I expect there to be improvement, and for that improvement to be sustained as well.

I’m very pleased to hear about the £500,000 that’s going into transition for eating disorders between CAMHS and adult services, via the Plaid Cymru and Labour Party negotiations on the budget deal. I’ve heard from people who came to the last cross-party group saying that that’s where they wanted the money to go, because they recognised the change in structure of treatment from a more family-type provision of service to the adult provision. So, I just wanted to clarify whether that funding would be recurrent, ongoing, and whether you are in discussion with specialists in the field of eating disorders about training up current levels of staff for that new provision. Also, with regard to the recruitment of new staff that would be able to come into the field of eating disorders in relation to this new funding, I think it will go a long way to making sure that these services are much more effective in future.

I’m pleased that there’s a general welcome for how that money’s being utilised within this year to improve the service. I think in terms of the recurrent position we really need to talk about not just the money for this year, but about the broader services around them. I think it would be helpful, rather than me trying to think on my feet about how much money has been spent in each area, again, if I write to you and copy that to Members about the current position and future developments. So, that may also be helpful for you and the cross-party group to see as well.