4. Will the Cabinet Secretary outline the Welsh Government's priorities for health services in South Wales Central? OAQ52782

Thank you. My priority for health services in the South Wales Central area, as with the rest of Wales, is to ensure that people have equity of access to safe, sustainable, high-quality and integrated health and care to meet their needs.

Cabinet Secretary, Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board has worked with partners in social care, the Welsh ambulance service and the voluntary sector to develop a winter plan to manage the increased demand on services, both at the University Hospital of Wales and at Llandough. The proposal includes an extra 32 beds for winter pressures and a further 12 beds as well if they are necessary. I also welcome that the network of community falls clinics within Cardiff will be accessible for individuals who are at a lower risk of falls who would benefit from an assessment to reduce their risk of falling in the future. Now, it remains to be seen if this planned and co-ordinated approach does deliver the type of strength we want in the system to respond to the winter pressures, but at least they are co-ordinating with the other key stakeholders. This ought to be the measure of what we should be seeing for the future, not only in South Wales Central but in all parts of Wales.

I'm happy to give the Member the assurance that a similar approach is taken by each health board, together with its partners in the Welsh ambulance service, their common partners, together with local government and the third sector, and, crucially, now drawing in colleagues in housing as well to understand how there is a proper plan ahead of winter. The challenge and the test always is how our joint services actually cope with the additional demand that we understand will come into the health and care system throughout the winter months and what more we can do successfully to keep people out of hospital who don't need to be there, but to make sure they're properly supported within their own homes. I will, of course, have more to say on these matters and planning for winter in the coming weeks and months as I continue to make statements and answer questions, but I'm very pleased the Member has taken the time to understand and engage with the winter planning process here in Cardiff and Vale.

Cabinet Secretary, as you will know, there has been significant work between Cwm Taf Local Health Board and Rhondda Cynon Taf council to develop a new integrated primary care facility in Mountain Ash. Now, this planned £6.5 million healthcare facility would replace outdated services in the town and adopt a holistic approach by bringing services together. Whilst recognising the work that has already been done to drive this project forward, what kind of benefits do you think the community will gain from this model, and how will the Welsh Government best support its delivery?

Thank you for the question. I recognise this is a subject that you raised with me very early on after your election, together with the leader of the council, about the need to improve the facilities, and actually that is one of the first benefits to be seen. There will be fit-for-purpose, up-to-date modern facilities to replace what currently exists, and we sometimes understate the importance of the physical environment in a person's experience of care and where they're likely to access care in the first place. There then is that point about better access, because then we can draw together more services in the same place and, in particular, draw health and local government services together to make it easier for people to get to the right service in the right place. That, as we know in other parts of the country, has led to an improvement in the relationships between all of those different professionals. They're able to talk to each other and to understand, if it isn't a health problem that somebody is coming to you with, there is someone—if it's in the same building, it's even better—to understand how you help that person to actually find support for their problem. But that experience and those better services are part of the plan that we'd expect to see. That's why we're investing together money with the local authority on delivering these new facilities. It'll also be important for staff there as well, because we do know, in other parts of your constituency, for example, the different way that those practices are now working with each other has led to a better job by professionals who are more likely to stay. 

And the final thing I'll say on this, Llywydd, is that the development between the health board and local authorities has not just helped in terms of the provision of new facilities; as you'll be aware from the NHS Wales Awards, the big prize on the night went to the Stay Well@home service—the partnership between health and local government to deliver improved care to keep people in their own homes for longer and out of hospital quicker. And there are real markers there within the Cwm Taf area for what the rest of the service needs to do.