Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:20 pm on 12 December 2017.
Cabinet Secretary, may I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for health on the provision of dementia services in south-east Wales, please? Proposals by the Aneurin Bevan university health board to close the dementia ward at Chepstow Community Hospital are causing considerable concern among the community in the area. If this ward closes, patients would have to travel to Ebbw Vale or Newport for treatment, which would cause huge difficulties in a rural county where public transport is infrequent, expensive and slow. It is reported that this proposal is the result of staffing problems in older adults' mental health care. That is the department where the real problem is, and they're going to close it down. So, can I ask for a statement on this damaging reorganisation, please? Thank you.