5. Will the First Minister provide an update on the provision of Welsh-medium social care? OAQ54864

I thank the Member for the question. Thirty-eight per cent of social workers that are regulated by Care Inspectorate Wales have the ability to speak Welsh. The Welsh Government is working to encourage more Welsh speakers to work in this important sector.

The fact that a health board operating under Welsh language standards could even consider moving a dementia patient who is Welsh speaking to England where care through the medium of Welsh would not be available, that is undoubted proof that Welsh language standards in health are entirely deficient. This is what happened over the Christmas period in the case of an elderly dementia patient from Ynys Môn. Plaid Cymru and others have argued from the very outset that the health standards are far too weak. Doesn't this case mean that we must introduce new standards that are firm and robust, and to do so as a matter of urgency? And doesn't this case also prove that there is a lack of understanding of the importance of Welsh-medium care? The case demonstrates that the Welsh language is seen as something that is peripheral or desirable in terms of care rather than being a central part of that care in terms of the quality of life and safety of those individuals involved. So, what do you intend to do in order to ensure that this important principle is rooted in our health and care regime in Wales?

Well, Llywydd, it's one thing to say that there is a case to do more in terms of regulating how the Welsh language should be used in the health sector, and it's up to each one of us to agree or disagree with that, but what I don't agree with the Member on is trying to reflect the general situation from the specific case of a patient in Ynys Môn. As I understand it, he still resides in Wales; he hasn't moved. And the reasons were clinical reasons. That was why the decision had been taken. Now, the situation has improved and the patient himself has improved and it's possible to treat him here in Wales.

The patient, as I understand it, and I'm relying on the most recent information I have, the patient himself remains being looked after in Wales, and the reason that it was considered that he might need to be cared for outside Wales was for clinical and safety reasons. But the individual's condition has improved to the point where it remains possible, as is of course preferable, that he should remain looked after here in Wales. That individual case does not give rise to the general conclusions that the Member tried to draw from it.

The general case she makes is different and there's a proper debate to be had there about whether the current state of the regulations we have are sufficient to guarantee—. And let me say that I agree entirely with the final things that Siân Gwenllian said: that receiving a service through the language of your choice is not an optional extra in Wales. It is a fundamental part of you receiving the care that you need. Sometimes, there will be clinical reasons why care outside Wales is required for somebody and then an individual decision has to be made. But the general point that Siân Gwenllian made is one that I believe in and that Government believes in: that the ability to receive a service through the medium of English or Welsh, of your choice, is a choice for the patient to make and it should be honoured.