6. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Carers

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:30 pm on 13 June 2018.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Bethan Sayed Bethan Sayed Plaid Cymru 4:30, 13 June 2018

Yes, and I know there's guidance to GPs—and I've had this briefing—but young carers are raising this with me: that the chief pharmaceutical officer for Wales sent out a guidance note in 2013 about dispensing medicines and access for young carers. That's the other issue—they go there and they're told they can't get the medication. That was 2013, and they're still telling me now, in 2018, that this isn't happening and that they're being refused access to medication. If they don't get it, their loved ones don't get the medication at all. So, if this is a guidance document, then really it's not working currently at all.

I think I would finish with what Suzy Davies has said quite strongly as well. In terms of the care assessments, we know that some areas are simply not doing them, and some areas simply don't know how many young carers they have. If we don't know that, by virtue of this being an Act, then we need to monitor that, and we need assessments in place. I think that Swansea YMCA seems to know more about how many young carers there are than the actual local authority. So, I really think that this has to be made clear, and I would support that deletion not happening because we have to be able to hold the Government to account on this for the benefit of young carers. That's what this is all about: so that they can see progress, and then we're not here in another five years saying, 'Well, what's happening on this piece of paper?' They really want to see a change happening now.