Priorities for Mental Health

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:58 pm on 4 November 2020.

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Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 2:58, 4 November 2020

I was very pleased, Minister, to hear what you said to Rhun ap Iorwerth about the Time to Change campaign. I was also pleased to hear what you said about not unnecessarily medicalising distress. In the region that we both represent, in Llanelli and Carmarthenshire, there is a very innovative project being run by the voluntary organisation Connecting Children, Youth and Adults, where GPs are prescribing support from that charity to children and families, and a wide range of support that I can't go into here. I'd like to invite you, Minister—. I don't think we can do a visit at this time as it wouldn't be appropriate, but I wonder if you would agree to meet with Tracy Pike, who is the chief executive, who's developed this really innovative model where the GPs are prescribing not just counselling, but a whole range of social support for a family. The initial results have been hugely encouraging, and I'd like to think that that's a potential model that might be able to be developed and provided elsewhere—a very useful partnership between public sector money through the local health board, through the GPs and third sector innovation. So, if I write to you on that matter, Minister, would you consider a meeting with Tracy and her team to see if there are lessons that could be learned for communities elsewhere in Wales from this innovative work?