Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 28 February 2018.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 1:47, 28 February 2018

Thank you. Notwithstanding the, I think, £100,000 extra continuation funding provided for Veterans NHS Wales, the report highlighted, or recommended, that funding for Veterans NHS Wales should be reviewed and targets for access to the service established, and performance against the targets regularly published. As at the time we debated this in November, waiting lists for Veterans NHS Wales were nine months in the Swansea area and averaging five to six months elsewhere. Although they'd secured three years extra funding from Help the Heroes to employ three full-time therapists to bring waiting lists down, they expected waiting times to rise again without additional support. And they’ve also provided me with figures showing that only 45 per cent of those veterans they're working with or referred to them are actually in employment. How, particularly, are you engaging with Veterans NHS Wales so that you and your colleague the heath Secretary are properly informed (a) on level of demand and (b) on their recommendations to address that?