Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:58 pm on 19 March 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:58, 19 March 2019

Well, I thank the Member for that question, because it allows me just to put on the record the actions that the health board itself, with the support of the Welsh Government, has taken since the events, which were published last week but happened before Christmas, have taken place. Because the health board has certainly not ignored any of that information. It has instituted changes to staffing, to oversight of staffing. It has changed the way in which services are provided between the Royal Glamorgan Hospital and Prince Charles Hospital; it has further changes that it has in line, it has changed the way in which weekend rotas are organised and overseen. These are really practical steps that have been taken in response to the information that the Member referred to. The Minister has been to Cwm Taf, he has met with midwives there. Their training, their oversight is really important in this. It is why, Dirprwy Lywydd, we are training record numbers of midwives through the training system that we have here in Wales—numbers that have gone up, I think, every year for the last three years, as we prepare for the workforce that we will need in the future. These are simple, practical measures that we are determined to take, that the health board is determined to take, and, together, they will lead to real improvements in the position that was identified during that visit by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales.