Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:35 pm on 3 July 2019.

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Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 2:35, 3 July 2019

Indeed you did, Minister, and I suspect you will carry on needing to respond to those questions until we've got answers that our constituents are wholly satisfied with.

You know how devastating, I know—there's no need for me to tell you how devastating the after-effects off stroke can be. You also know how important it is that that whole pathway, from the emergency call to the actual treatment, is done in a timely manner. There are costs to that, but also there are potentially huge cost savings, because if the treatment is given quickly enough, we're going to have patients who will fully recover, whereas otherwise, they might be permanently dependent on health and social care.

Now the Stroke Association has called on you to set targets from the time of that emergency call to the treatment being delivered. That is being done elsewhere. I'm very pleased to hear you say, and I know it's true, that other Governments are learning from some good things that we're doing here in Wales on healthcare. Is this an example of where you might need to learn from somewhere else? You are prepared to set binding targets for some aspects of services, which is absolutely correct. Will you reconsider your decision not to set, at this point, a binding target for that treatment time, from the emergency call to the actual treatment being delivered, for patients suffering from stroke?