Part of 3. Questions to the Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:48 pm on 24 February 2021.
I'm of course pleased to hear the Minister say that services and access to services are crucial. We're all agreed on that, but it's true that many people are having difficulty accessing the support that they need. If you look at Stats Wales data, we see that the numbers referred to mental health services at a local level reduced by over a quarter in the nine months to December, as compared to the previous year. The number of assessments fell by around a quarter too and the number of therapeutic interventions fell by 10 per cent in the same period. So, although we are hearing that these are crucial services, there are too many people who can't access them. So, what additional steps can the Welsh Government take in order to ensure that people who need that support can access it?