5. What plans does the Welsh Government have to improve access to women's health services? OAQ51918

We expect Welsh health boards to provide a full range of safe and sustainable health services to women, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance and waiting-time targets.

Thank you for that response. More than three out of four abortions in Wales—nearly 80 per cent—are medical rather than surgical procedures, which involve taking two doses of tablets within 72 hours of each other. Currently, in Wales, both of these tablets have to be taken in a clinic, whereas, in Scotland, women are now allowed to take the second dose of misoprostol at home. Would the First Minister agree that women in Wales would be better off if they could take this second dose at home, avoiding unnecessary medical appointments and also the risks of travelling, often on public transport, after taking the second dose?

Well, I can inform my friend the Member for Cardiff North that clinicians have approached the Welsh Government about this issue. We are considering the evidence, in particular, of course, about the possibility for a more efficient service, and, of course, safer, improved outcomes for women, before committing to any future plans. She is right to point to what is happening in Scotland. There is a judicial review, by the way, in Scotland that is ongoing that challenges that policy. Obviously, we're taking an interest in that. So, what I can say to her is that we're looking at the Scottish situation, looking to see, in terms of safety, whether that should apply to Wales, and of course looking to make sure that the judicial review—looking to see what the outcome of the judicial review actually is.

First Minister, over the last decade, approximately 70 per cent of women who've been called forward to have breast test screenings have actually taken forward that invitation and have had the screenings that have sometimes saved their lives. However, there is a hardcore 30 per cent that we are unable to reach to persuade them of the benefit of taking up this kind of screening. Do you think it would be an appropriate time now, after a decade, that we actually conduct some kind of survey to try to understand what the barriers are to that 30 per cent accessing what could be potentially a life-saving screening service, and how we can then address their concerns so that we can have a better uptake for this very vital element of women's health?

I think the Member makes a perfectly sensible suggestion, and one that needs to inform the work that we are doing with public health teams, health boards and primary care clusters to improve the screening uptake. She is quite correct in the figures that she quotes. More worryingly, Breast Test Wales have observed a gradual decline in uptake since 2007, which is a worrying—not quite a long-term trend, but enough for it to be concerning in terms of our trend over the past nine years. More than 110,000 tests are conducted as part of the programme. There need to be more, and examining why women don't take the opportunity of going through screening has to be an important part of making sure we go past that 70 per cent figure.