3. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to improve care for stroke patients in the Rhondda? OAQ54007

Llywydd, between 2013 and 2017 the number of people dying from strokes in Wales fell by 25 per cent. Latest figures, published last month, show continued improvement in stroke services in Wales. In the Rhondda, as elsewhere, this relies on effective clinical leadership and multidisciplinary working.

Colin Rogers from Rhondda Cynon Taf died of a basilar artery stroke at the age of just 55, leaving behind a devastated family. Mr Rogers had the misfortune to be taken ill on a Sunday morning. Had it happened during the week, he could have been transferred to Bristol for endovascular thrombectomy, which could have saved his life. There was no such arrangement available on the weekend. A petition has been set up to ensure that this treatment is available to Welsh patients, which calls

'upon the Welsh government to end the postcode lottery and act to save the lives of the Welsh people.'

I understand that provision is being made to correct this injustice by making the procedure more widely available in Wales, but, as with many problems within the Welsh NHS, this comes down to workforce planning. What plans do you have to ensure that there is a 24/7 service provided for Welsh patients, which will hopefully prevent cases like that of Mr Rogers? 

I thank the Member for that. Any death from a stroke is deeply regrettable. I'm not familiar with the case that she mentioned, but in the terms that she described it, of course our sympathy goes to his family in those circumstances. Thrombectomy is a highly specialised and relatively new form of intervention in the health service. It was partly developed here in Wales, because the original research that went into it was carried out in three centres—in Cardiff, in Birmingham and in one other. And when I was the health Minister, I had the privilege of meeting the clinician in Wales who was leading on that research here, and I met with a patient who had been an artist before suffering from his stroke, who described to me that, as the blood clot was drawn out of his brain—and he was watching it on a screen; he was conscious while this was happening—he could see the blood clot being removed from his brain and, as he was watching it, he could feel feeling coming back into his arm and to his hand. It was absolutely astonishing to hear that, but as you can imagine, as Members can imagine, the skill that is needed to carry out that sort of intervention is very significant and has to be enormously precise. 

So, the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee are well advanced in planning a Wales-wide service for thrombectomy here in Wales. It will require recruitment. It will require training. In the meantime, we are commissioning services from across our border where scarce spare capacity exists. But the answer, not in the long term but as soon as we can do it, is to create that all-Wales service with the people that we will need and with the coverage that will be required. 

I'm very sorry to hear about your constituent, Leanne. We talked here, or Leanne spoke about how Mr Rogers's death may have been able to be prevented if the right resources had been in place and, of course, prevention is better than cure. It's an old saying but it is absolutely true, and we know that in the Rhondda and in the Cwm Taf health board, the highest number of young people and adolescents who smoke can be found in that area. Of course, we know that smoking is a major contributor to stroke and to high blood pressure. So, First Minister, in your capacity as the person who has to join up the various arms of the Government, could you give us an outline of what you might be able to do to ensure that young people in the Rhondda and in the Cwm Taf whole area have proper education that teaches them about the dangers of smoking, about the long-term consequences to their health? Because if we can get people young enough and make those lifestyle changes, then not only do they benefit, but we benefit as a nation because we then have resources freer to do other things that we need to do.   

I thank the Member for that important point, and I know that she will have welcomed the fact that smoking levels amongst young people in Wales are at an all-time low, as are alcohol figures in Wales. So, the public health messages that we have been conveying and the practical actions that have been taken through Public Health Wales, through community pharmacy, through what we do in schools, are having a positive effect on the levels of smoking in our community and amongst young people in particular. There is—as there is in so much of health—a socioeconomic gradient in it all, and those families who live in the most difficult of circumstances rely on smoking and other things to help them to get through those difficulties to an extent that people who live more advantaged lives are able to avoid, and that's why you see the figures to which the Member referred. But the good news, Llywydd, has to be that the actions that we have taken in Wales over recent years are being successful. We have a strong sense of the things that work. We need to do more of them, we need to calibrate them to those places where the challenge is greatest, but we're able to draw on that successful experience in order to do so.