Part of 4. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:30 pm on 3 April 2019.
There are two points there that I think I should respond to. The first is the point about the numbers of beds that we have. We're at commissioned capacity in Tŷ Llidiard. We're below commissioned capacity—and, actually, we're commissioning 12 of those potential 18 beds—in north Wales. That's partly about the complexity and the space needed, but it is also, partly, about staff. And so there are 10 beds commissioned and in use, and they have been able to move up to 12; they had to move back down to 10, because of challenges about recruiting staff to work permanently in the facility, so I recognise that staffing is an issue. And resource isn't a problem—it's not that the health board are refusing to put staff in or holding open the vacancies; it's about our ability to recruit people into the service. And so we're operating 10 beds because it's safe to do so.
The further challenge then is, I guess, about the number of commissioned beds in any event. Actually, at present, the guidance from the Royal College of Psychiatrists actually shows that we are above the level of population to beds that they suggest we have across the country. But, in terms of reviewing our capacity, then of course we'll be informed by the level of need, and to see how many people could be served. Because, as I said, I recognise that, because we have not been able to safely staff all of the beds that we have commissioned, single figures of children and young people from Wales have gone out of the country when they could otherwise have been in those facilities within NHS Wales. So, it is a real issue for all of those children and young people and their families, and so, yes, I'm determined to provide an update that you and other Members will expect—and the undertakings I've given to Lynne Neagle about making sure that both subject committees are kept informed of progress.