Bereavement Services

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:40 pm on 5 June 2019.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:40, 5 June 2019

I want to reassure the Member that I do take the issue seriously, and I recognise exactly what she says about the likely risks of people dying by suicide in the future if they are bereaved by suicide in the first place, and I do take that very seriously. I want to move as quickly as we possibly can. We have choices to make about not just what the data, the evidence and submissions tell us about the support we should provide, but whether we have a national system, because that would probably mean a national organisation like Samaritans or Cruse Bereavement Care, for example, providing, potentially, a service, or whether we have, potentially, national standards where there can be local or regional delivery, because there are much smaller and more distinct groups that provide a service at present. We need to think about what sort of model we want and what sort of service we then want to be able to provide. But, for me, it is essential to listen to people who have lived experience and people who are already providing bereavement support. And I'm happy to reconfirm that Professor Ann John is absolutely part of the consideration of the comments on what we should do next. So, it is a matter of what we do, not if we do something, and I recognise that the Member will continue to ask questions until we're in a position of not just making a choice but to see a real difference having been made.