Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The Welsh NHS—[Interruption.] To be honest, if you really want to know—

No, no. [Laughter.]

Okay, well I'm quite concerned about the question I'm going to have to ask. The Welsh NHS saw the highest ever percentage—

No, no. Can you ask the question—

Sorry, I beg your pardon.

2. Will the Minister make a statement on urgent dental surgery provision in north Wales? OAQ54751

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has commenced a review of urgent and emergency dental provision, with the aim of providing a sustainable and improved service. As part of the process and in considering any change, staff and trade unions are being involved and will be formally consulted.

Thank you, Minister. The Welsh NHS saw the highest ever percentage of patient pathways waiting between 26 and 36 weeks to start treatment for oral surgery in September 2019. This is directly impacting on my constituents, such as one lady who has a seriously decayed tooth causing facial swelling, severe pain and high infection levels. She's already waited 33 weeks for a simple extraction. Numerous appointments for eye surgery that she requires have had to be cancelled because of the lack of oral surgery and given that she's carrying infection. This lady is 83 years old and, as I've said, she's already waited 33 weeks. The Welsh NHS is failing to meet the 26-week target for surgery. So, what assurances will you give me here today that my constituents will not have to wait so many weeks in agonising pain for urgent, urgent oral surgery again? And will you please perhaps, on this occasion, intervene in this case, and let's get this lady's tooth extracted?

As you know, I can't comment on an individual matter, which I'm certain I'm not aware of, but if you do write to me with the details, which I'm sure you will do, I'll happily investigate the matter in order to understand what has happened for your individual constituent.

In terms of the broader challenge about improving performance within the national health service, as you're aware, we've invested £50 million to help improve performance within this year. We currently have about 85 per cent of people being seen within the 26-week target for scheduled care, and you're also aware that there are, of course, a range of factors outside our control, including the direct impact of tax and pension changes. So, the Government continues to invest in the future of improving performance; you've seen performance improve in each of the last three years. I expect to be able to deliver further improvements again, bearing in mind the demands we face and we see coming into our system, and, of course, the challenge in investing across public services.

Constituents in the Bangor area have been in touch with me expressing concerns about the impossibility of accessing dentistry services. The NHS dentistry lists are closed, of course. They can't afford to pay to access private services, and there are families telling me that they haven't seen a dentist for over 12 months. So, can I ask you what you're doing to tackle that problem, and specifically what is the Government doing to ensure that we train dentists in north Wales, because, as with general practitioners, we know that if people are trained in north Wales, they are more than likely to stay in north Wales to practice?

Actually, we are looking at a range of training areas right across the country, including north Wales, for future service provision, and I'll have more to do with the faculty based in Bangor in the near future, to formally open that. But in terms of the specific challenges around Wales, we are actually seeing lots more people each year, compared to a decade ago, certainly across the country. In north Wales, the health board are about to retender a range of dental practices that have closed over the last 12 months. You should see more capacity within the north specifically, but more than that, of course, as I said before, the programme of contract reform is actually about delivering not just greater value, but greater capacity, in primary dental services, and I'm pleased to see that about one in four of our current dental practices in north Wales are engaged in that programme, and I expect more to come. So, that is partly about delivering capacity, but, actually, it's fundamentally about delivering a sustainable, high-quality services that I believe everyone, regardless of where they live, should be able to access here in Wales.