Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 1:59 pm on 14 March 2018.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 1:59, 14 March 2018

Well, I make no apology for saying the NHS is not broken. I make no apology for being offended by the way you have approached this issue. I've met—[Interruption.] I've met—[Interruption.] I have met paramedics through the worst of times. When I was appointed as a Deputy Minister for Health at that time and meeting paramedics at that time, they were angry and they were despondent. They wanted the system to change. They recognised they were in a mad rush to meet a target they did not believe in, they did not believe served the patient well or them as members of staff well. They were directly engaged in helping to change that system. We listened to what paramedics were saying to us at the time, and we continue to listen. I have spent a large amount of my time in this office going out and directly listening to staff in their workplaces. I was with paramedics last week within north Wales. I was listening to them about the work they're doing to improve our healthcare system, the work on a trial being run in north Wales that I think is likely to be rolled out across the rest of the country, using advanced paramedics to improve out-of-hospital care to avoid unnecessary admissions. And we will continue to listen to our staff. We will continue to see them engage, as they already are, as individuals in their workplaces, within their trade unions and their representatives, because this is a system that is looking to improve and to learn. And I think that if you spent more time with representatives in our system to look at the improvements that have taken place within these last few years, and to look at the further improvements we are planning and trialing, I think you might take a slightly different perspective.