Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:46 pm on 28 November 2017.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 1:46, 28 November 2017

Well, it comes as a surprise to me, as I stand here every week, to suggest that I'm not scrutinised, because I can guarantee Members that certainly I am. Can I make the point that statistics are not changed by Government? They're dealt with independently, and it's up to the UK Statistics Authority to decide how it gathers statistics. It's not something Government decides. Yes, it is true to say, with the ambulance response times, for example, that that was changed, but that put it in a comparable position with England. That's one of the reasons why that was done.

When it comes to looking at cancer targets, these are issues that we look at to make them more effective. The issue I always have with the 28-day diagnosis is that specialists say to me that it's often not possible to do that because of the nature of somebody's cancer. People react in different ways and their diagnosis is done in different ways. I'm not a doctor; I'm just referring to what people have said to me.

Now, she makes the point about making sure that young people get the treatment that they need at the right time, and a priority of the Together for Children and Young People programme is to reduce inappropriate referrals, to examine the way in which specialist mental health services work with primary care and others in social services, education and youth justice and the third sector to ensure that young people do have timely access to appropriate help. But, of course, what is important is that young people, when they're referred, get the right level of service and don't just get defaulted to CAMHS. So, this is a holistic approach that we're taking, and we're confident, if we take into account as well the pilot projects that were announced in September for mental health support in schools, that we will then be able, of course, to ensure that more and more young people get the help and support that they need.