Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 2. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:34 pm on 15 January 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:34, 15 January 2019

Well, Llywydd, I'm probably more familiar with the first of those two propositions than the second. A lot has been done in Wales to improve perinatal mental health, concentrating, in the first instance, on improving community services. Because most of all, we wouldn't want women and their babies to have to be looked after away from their own homes when they are going through those sorts of experiences. But the discussions we had—and I remember having them with Steffan Lewis as well—was that, where in-patient treatment is needed, then of course we want that to be as close to people's homes as it can. I know that Siân Gwenllian has this week raised concerns about those services in north Wales, and that the Minister was answering questions in front of committee on these services as well. So, we have an ongoing and shared commitment to the improvement of perinatal mental health treatment, both in the community, and in those rarer occasions when women and their babies need more intensive and in-patient care, and to try to make sure that that is properly available for them as close to their homes, wherever that might be in Wales.