2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the capacity available to provide mental health support services across Wales? OQ56351

I thank Dr Lloyd for the question. Capacity to provide mental health support services in Wales depends crucially on a multi-agency approach. During the last 12 months, support has been increased within the NHS and also through the third sector and local authorities.

Thank you for that, First Minister. Now, 'unprecedented' is the word in terms of COVID—we've heard it many times. 'Unprecedented' is the word in terms of mental health also—we have unprecedented levels of mental anguish in our people today, with unbelievable strain and long waiting lists, and with mental health staff in emergency deployment elsewhere, and with their own health issues and isolating themselves. We can talk about workforce planning, but the mental health crisis is now. I have previously raised the need to use all hands on deck to tackle this huge challenge, and, in addition to what you've outlined, particularly to utilise independent counsellors and therapists—cognitive behavioural therapy and others—and bring them into the NHS to increase that capacity. We have professionally trained mental health professionals who are not directly employed by the NHS today. And the Minister, Eluned Morgan, has previously stated that she's open to the idea of working with health boards on this agenda. So, unprecedented times, creative solutions for now—do you agree?

I absolutely agree with Dr Lloyd that creative solutions will be necessary to allow us to respond to the unprecedented nature of the crisis that we face. And as he said, Eluned Morgan, as the Minister with responsibility for mental health, has indicated that the Welsh Government is open to drawing on the widest range of skilled, professional and accredited help that is available to people as we try and mobilise different forms of help for them to meet the impact on mental health and well-being of the last 12 months. That is why, in addition to the money that we have directly in this financial year mobilised to strengthen NHS services, we've found nearly £3 million to strengthen the contribution from the third sector, particularly to tier 1 and tier 0 services, to make them as available to people as possible.

And those people who have expertise in CBT have been part of that journey as well, particularly in providing online material, where people can, in their own time and in a way that suits them, take advantage of the sorts of approaches, exercises, and ways of responding to mental health needs that we are now able to take advantage of. So, I entirely agree with what Dr Lloyd said—to meet the unprecedented circumstances we're in, imagination, creativity and a willingness to draw on all the capacity available will be part of the way that we reshape our health services for the future. 

Last week, the Mental Health Foundation called for a new cross-Welsh-Government strategy on preventing mental health problems, including widened access to social prescribing, such as arts projects, peer-to-peer projects and access to nature, and action to address rural mental health. How, therefore, do you respond to several retired constituents who e-mailed me last week stating,

'We're now starting to suffer health issues because of the lockdown. Mentally we can't take much more. The lanes where we live are narrow, but unrestricted, dangerous, and traffic moves very fast. They're definitely not safe to walk on. We did, until now, understand the reasons for not allowing bubbles. At the moment, that frankly feels very desperate. People like us see no-one, talk to no-one and are beginning to have health issues due to this isolation. Please appeal to the Welsh Government, putting forward the concerns of people such as ourselves, since there are a great deal of them in rural Wales. All we ask is for an extended travel rule to different local beaches or open spaces and our bubbles so that we can talk, cry and support'?

Well, Llywydd, I indicated at the end of the last three-week review that I hoped that the current three-week review would be the last one in which we had to ask people to sustain a stay-at-home approach to dealing with the pandemic. Given that numbers are continuing to fall and that vaccination continues to be rolled out successfully in Wales, I remain hopeful that, at the end of this three-week cycle, it will be possible to offer people, in the circumstances that Mark Isherwood has described, greater ability to get the exercise that they are looking for, and potentially to find more opportunities for people to meet safely outdoors. All of this, Llywydd, however, will be done primarily within the lens of the continuing public health challenges that we face from this virus.

The people who have contacted Mr Isherwood—the retired constituents to whom he referred—would not, I'm sure, wish us to do anything that would put at risk the hard-won ground that they and others in Wales have achieved by the efforts that we have made together. Those efforts are bearing fruit and, so long as they continue to do so, I hope to be in a position to respond to the sorts of messages that the Member has relayed to us this afternoon. 

First Minister, two weeks ago we were pleased to host a Facebook live event in the Bridgend and Ogmore area, under the title of 'Mental Health—It's Good to Talk', and it was attended, I'm delighted to say, by the Minister with responsibility for mental health, but also by Megan from the Bridgend Youth Council, Mental Health Matters, local Men's Sheds and many other organisations and individuals with lived experience of mental health challenges as well. Amongst the many issues raised, two themes were prominent. The first was the need for continuing to ramp up overall investment in mental health support and services from the upstream investment, which you've talked about, First Minister, through to therapies and through to the acute services. And the second was the need for investment in perinatal mental health for both parents, something raised not least by Ogmore Vale campaigner Mark Williams. And I thank the Minister, by the way, for inviting Mark along to a subsequent meeting with others, within days, to discuss this. So, First Minister, can I ask you what commitment can you give to continuing to boost the investment in mental health support and services across the piste and to the perinatal mental health of both parents, and also to helping remove the stigma over mental health issues—letting people know it really is good to talk about mental health? 

Well, Llywydd, I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for those further questions. In terms of onward investment into mental health, he will know that the draft budget that was laid before the Senedd some weeks ago, and in the final budget that will be published later today, we will invest a further £42 million in mental health. The single largest sum of money in our health budget is devoted to mental health, and this will be significant further investment in the next financial year in sustaining those services, which, as Dr Lloyd said, will be so necessary in the months ahead. 

As to perinatal services, I'm pleased to be able to confirm to Members that we remain on track to invite the first patients into the new residential perinatal mental health service that is being created at Tonna Hospital, not very far from the Member's own constituency. That was a commitment given by my colleague Vaughan Gething, that we would create a new in-patient facility in perinatal mental health, and that will be achieved before the elections, despite the very considerable challenges that coronavirus has posed to the builders, who are working very hard to make sure that everything can be completed at Tonna Hospital in time for those first patients to be welcomed.

And finally, to congratulate the Member on the event that he organised. Removing stigma in the field of mental health is a constant effort, isn't it? It's not a battle that we are going to win just by a single event or a single campaign. It remains a real challenge for us all, and I know Members across the Chamber have played their part in this to make sure that we go on explaining to people that talking about mental health, being open about experiences, getting the help that can then follow from it, that is the way in which we erode the continuing stigma that, unfortunately, those who suffer from mental ill health continue to report to us.