8. Will the First Minister make a statement on the future of accident and emergency services at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital? OAQ54953

Llywydd, I understand that the local health board will discuss this matter at its next public board meeting on 30 January. 

First Minister, I have a report looking at how communities served by the Royal Glamorgan Hospital will be affected if consultant-led accident and emergency services are removed from there. The worst affected communities are to be found in mid Rhondda. The towns and villages at the top of the Rhondda Fach and Fawr can access Prince Charles Hospital relatively quickly via the Maerdy and Rhigos mountain roads. However, Rhondda residents who regularly use that route know that that's a dangerous assumption to make because in the winter those roads are often closed. Do you support the retention of consultant-led services at the Royal Glamorgan accident and emergency department and its ability to deal with trauma admissions? And will you be prepared to listen to the views of both patients and staff, especially those concerns around travel times, before any final decision on the future of consultant-led A&E in that hospital is made?

Llywydd, I thank the Member for those points. I haven't seen the report to which she referred, and I haven't seen the paper that the board will take to its public meeting on 30 January. However, I do understand that the board is to offer local Assembly Members an opportunity of a briefing on Friday of this week, in order to understand what they are to report to that board. I certainly expect that the board would operate in the way that Leanne Wood has suggested, listening to the views of patients, of staff, and of elected representatives, and I hope that Friday's meeting will be a helpful start to that process. 

Thank you, First Minister.