Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:25 pm on 27 June 2018.
Well, look, this is an issue that I'm aware of, the Get It On Time campaign. It's not a condition-specific campaign for one only because, actually, there are a range of other conditions—epilepsy, for example. My younger brother has epilepsy and I know on some of his hospital stays in the English system the non-administration of that has actually led to him having a seizure that would have otherwise been controlled by his medication regime outside of a hospital setting. So, I do recognise the challenges that exist in a range of conditions about having a regular medication regime that continues and is not interrupted by a hospital stay, whether that is for the main condition that those medications are provided for or for an alternative. And there's something here about our improvement programme in pharmacy management and in medication management in any event, both about the administration of medicines in hospitals, but also about not having an unnecessary gap when somebody is actually discharged from hospital as well, so they promptly have any medication that they then require to go back into their own homes. So, I recognise the campaign. There's work being led by the chief pharmacist with health boards and chief pharmacists in each of the health boards because I do recognise the challenge that does exist.