Health Inequalities

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services — Postponed from 8 November – in the Senedd at 2:51 pm on 15 November 2017.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:51, 15 November 2017

This is a significant policy priority for this Government. We've agreed between three different Government departments to fund an ACEs hub to try and understand the impact of stacked adverse childhood experiences on individuals and families in their communities. It isn't just a funding approach; it's a policy and action approach as well. It's why I'm proud that this Government has led the way on controls on tobacco, on trying to improve our smoking cessation services, and, indeed, there are the continued efforts of this Government to try and reduce harmful drinking with, as you know, the proposals this Government has to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol.

But this is all tied up with a broader approach, and I think about the launch of the Living Well, Living Longer programme that took place in the local government Cabinet Secretary's constituency a few years ago. This is a programme that is bearing real results and shows a different way of trying to work alongside people, having a less medicalised approach in trying to encourage people who are at risk to attend a setting, often outside something like a GP practice, making good use of healthcare support workers, and that's showing a real benefit and identifying potential risks that people are carrying as well as identifying undiagnosed and uncontrolled ill health as well. So, there are a whole range of issues, and ACEs are one of them, in which we encourage people to take more control over their own lives and make different choices. There will not be a single intervention this Government can take, but a range of them and an understanding of not just what we choose to do, but how we help the public to make different choices for themselves to lead to better outcomes.