4. Will the First Minister make a statement on workforce planning in Hywel Dda University Local Health Board? (OAQ51081)[W]

We expect Hywel Dda to develop its workforce plans so that they match the local population needs, both now and in the future.

Thank you, First Minister. May I first of all put on record my thanks to the staff of Bronglais hospital who cared for my son over the past fortnight in the accident and emergency department? I’m very grateful and I very much appreciate the work that the staff do at the Hywel Dda health board. But, we must acknowledge—and the Minister has acknowledged to me in answering a question over the summer—that there are problems in some areas, and paediatrics particularly. Doctor Vas Falcao, who just retired last year from Withybush hospital, has said that the paediatric service in the west is about to fail because of recruitment problems. We have six vacant posts for paediatric consultants at the moment at Withybush hospital, and last year’s recruitment campaign by Bronglais failed to recruit a single new consultant. So, we must ask whether you will take definite, specific steps to ensure better recruitment for staff in west Wales.

Well, may I say in the first place that I hope that your family situation has improved? I’m sorry to hear about what happened there. It’s true to say that there are still challenges in the west. I know that the situation in Withybush is a temporary position and not a permanent one—may I say that—and I know that the health board is working very hard to recruit the people they need. But what will not happen is that we will not revert to the old model, because the royal college is not of that view. Maybe one individual might think so, but that is not the view of the royal college. But, of course, I know that the health board is working very hard through the recruitment campaign that we have to ensure that the temporary situation in Withybush changes and reverts to what it was previously, that is, 12 hours per day.

First Minister, according to the Hywel Dda health board, they have faced more recruitment problems at Withybush hospital over the past few years because of the location of the hospital. That’s why the board has said that they’ve had to change the opening hours for paediatric services, for example. The constituents that I represent want to see full-time paediatric services reintroduced in the hospital. So, can you confirm that your Government agrees with that aim, and also can you tell us one thing that your Government has done differently as compared to the past six months in order to deal with these recruitment problems?

Well, of course, it is a matter for the health board, but they have a duty to recruit and they are still attempting to do so. Is he asking whether things should revert to what they used to be? Well, no, because that is not what the report states; I don’t think there would be an improvement in services at all. It’s true to say that there have been problems regarding recruitment in hospitals over the years, going back decades now. The further west you go, the fewer training hospitals you have. That is why it is vital to ensure that when specialists go to hospitals in west Wales they feel part of a larger network so that they have that professional support. That’s what’s happening, of course, through the links that they have in Morriston in the west, and in the north with some of Liverpool’s hospitals. But may I tell him once again that the current situation in Withybush hospital is temporary, not permanent?

First Minister, I took the opportunity during the summer recess to meet with staff and also the chief executive of Hywel Dda health board. I particularly focused on the issue of the paediatric ambulatory care unit in Withybush and all the headline stories that we have heard. What I was told quite clearly is that they recognise that they have recruitment problems and that those recruitment problems are not unique just to them, nor to Wales, nor to the rest of the UK. What they did tell me was that they’re looking at those challenges in a positive way, so that they can deliver an alternative model to the one that is currently provided on a temporary basis. So, could I ask, First Minister, what discussions the Welsh Government has had, and will have in the future, with the health board about what those strategies might be able to deliver and how effective we could expect them to be?

I understand that on 21 September, a few days ago, a new consultant paediatrician was recruited to Withybush. Also, there have been the appointments of two locums and two substantive consultant posts across their paediatric services. The health board inform us that they’re also in discussions with two further candidates for a community paediatric and a consultant paediatric post. That is encouraging and, of course, in doing that, we want to make sure that there is more to come.