Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:33 pm on 13 December 2017.
I think it's important for me to be honest about what I can and can't do, and I can never guarantee to anyone that a surgical procedure won't go wrong. There is an inherent risk in invasive surgery that it may not work as you would wish it to and as most of the evidence suggests it should do. What matters even more so in this case is the consequences of that surgery going wrong, the life-changing impact, and whether there has been, as I say, a proper understanding of the risks that the operation presents in terms of benefits. Because most women who get to this point have actually got a life-changing challenge in the first place, but are still then properly understanding what risks are being borne, how and why, and whether there are better alternatives. So, the work of the task and finish group, the NICE guidance, will be really important for us to understand what is the best possible response for and from clinicians, what is the role of Government, and making something happen where that is not the role, but understanding whether the devices themselves continue to be available to clinicians, and in what circumstances as well. That's why I say I want to have clarity in providing an answer, when the report is provided to me, and to be utterly transparent with Members about what will and what won't happen. Because, as I say, I recognise it's had a significant, life-changing impact on a number of our constituents right across the country.