2. What plans does the Welsh Government have to assist people suffering with anxiety post lockdown? OQ56488

Diolch yn fawr, Jack. We've committed an additional £4 million next year to improve access to non-clinical support for low-level mental health issues like anxiety, and this is going to build on funding we've provided this year to improve support, including the roll-out of online cognitive behavioural therapy.

Thank you for that answer, Minister. I'm sure we have all spoken to people who are experiencing anxiety for the very first time, unsure about what is happening to them, and certainly unsure about what support is available to them. Many residents in Alyn and Deeside, and across Wales, have barely been out since this time last year. They are not only anxious about coronavirus, but they are actually anxious about going out into the world. For some, this anxiety will be more extreme, and may well lead to panic attacks, something that I have only experienced once in my life, shortly after Dad died, and something I wouldn't wish on anybody. What plans does the Welsh Government have to address this, and to ensure that the NHS is fully equipped to help people, young and old, from all walks of life, with anxiety, including those that would not recognise the signs and how to reach out?

Diolch yn fawr, Jack. Thanks very much for all you've done to champion the issue of mental health. Since you've been in the Senedd, you really have been one of the foremost champions of this issue. I'd like to just underline my thanks to you for also being so honest about some of the issues that you've struggled with. Thank you very much, because it does help people to talk about it. I must say that there are very few positive things that have come out of the pandemic, but I do think the fact that people seem to be talking about mental health—that the stigma, I hope, will be reduced as a result of this. Because, frankly, there can't be many people who haven't been touched in some way in terms of anxiety during the pandemic. They haven't known about whether they're going to keep their jobs, they haven't known whether their parents are going to contract the virus, they haven't known whether their children are going to suffer from going backwards in terms of academia—all of these things lead to anxiety. I think everybody now can relate to anxiety in a way that perhaps not everybody did before. So, that is clear.

What we've tried to do, Jack, is to make sure that people are aware of what help is available if they suffer these panic attacks. Obviously, we have the CALL a mental health helpline, which is available 24 hours a day. We've put increased capacity into that. As I say, we've got this online cognitive behavioural therapy. But one of the key things that was really important for me when I was first appointed was how easy is it to get access, to know where you can go for this stuff. And what you see now—I hope that all Senedd Members received a copy of the e-mail that I sent to make sure that everybody knew that, now, every single health board has to make it absolutely clear what support is available in their region. It has to be accessible in a really easy way. So, there's plenty of support out there, but we just have to make sure that people know where to go and signpost that support. Diolch yn fawr, Jack, for everything you've done on the subject. 

That was a very comprehensive answer, Minister. Can I also take the opportunity to commend Jack Sargeant for the huge amount of work he's done in this area of mental health, which is so important, particularly during the months of the pandemic and lockdown? It was a pleasure previously working with Jack's father, Carl Sargeant, in the Senedd on a range of issues. He was passionate about those issues and I'm pleased to see that Jack has carried on in the same vein in championing issues that really matter to the people out there in our communities.

Minister, it's likely, as you've just hinted at, that we're going to see an increase in the number of people needing community mental health support for those suffering anxiety and depression, as one of the significant public health consequences of the pandemic, and it looks like that could go on for a considerable length of time, and at considerable cost. What discussions have you had with the vice-chairs of local health boards across Wales, or, indeed, with the health Minister, liaising with those health boards—those who are responsible for community mental health and primary care—to ensure that local NHS services are going to get the focus they need? Because clearly they've not just been under strain during this pandemic, they're going to be under strain for some considerable time to come, trying to cope with the aftermath of this challenging time. 

Diolch yn fawr, Nick. Certainly, that community mental health support is absolutely critical, and I think that it is important that we try and give that support, as far as possible, as close to home as possible, because, generally speaking, mental health support is not something you can just fix once; you have to have an ongoing relationship, you have to keep working on it. That's why actually giving that support in the community is much more valuable, and that's certainly what we're trying to do.

I've met with the vice-chairs now on a couple of occasions since I was appointed to this role, and I've made it absolutely clear to them the direction of travel that I would like to see things going in. One is that we need to really divert more money into tier 0 support—that early, early support—so that we don't see these problems developing and becoming more complex and more difficult for us to treat. So, early help is absolutely critical. The second thing is that we really need to divert more money into supporting children and young people as a proportion of the budget. So, those are the two messages that I've made absolutely clearly to the vice-chairs, as well as, of course, underlining their responsibilities to make sure that all of these services are available through the medium of Welsh.  

I'd like to thank Jack Sargeant for tabling such an important question today, and also to pay tribute to his father, Carl Sargeant, who helped me when I had a number of anxiety problems as a result of a negative and destructive relationship I had in the past. He was very supportive of me, and without his support, I don't think I would have come out as strongly as I have done. 

But my question is on eating disorders. I've spent my whole career campaigning on this issue, and we've heard from Beat Cymru, who have done laudable work in this area, that eating disorders have got worse during COVID. That anxiety, that feeling that they don't have the services available to them, and that they don't get the support that they need, is something that is very grave at the moment. I understand what you say, Minister, about talking about mental health, but people have had enough of talking; they want action. And there is an absence of services on the ground for people with all sorts of different mental health problems. 

So, it's an appeal to you, on my last day in the Senedd, to ensure that those services are improved for the future, so that people don't have to access private services in the future, so that they don't feel that their lives get so bad that they want to bring their lives to an end, so that new mothers can get the support that they need. That's my appeal to you as a Government now and to any future government that may come forward in May. 

Thank you, Bethan, and thank you for everything that you've done in this area. I know that this is something that you've been campaigning on for a long time. Certainly, one of the things that I am concerned about is the fact that we have, particularly in the area of eating disorders, seen an increase during the pandemic. That's something I've asked my team to focus on. 

We need to understand that this has been more of a problem. We have put more money into it during the pandemic, but I have asked to see whether we need to provide more funding for it, because I am concerned about the situation. What's very clear with this disorder is that you have to intervene early. If you don't do that, the problems can be very serious indeed, and so, once again, the solution, from my perspective, is to ensure that that funding is available for organisations such as Beat, which do such excellent work.

One of the things we need to ensure is that more people at a primary care level are willing to send people to Beat while they're waiting, perhaps, to see someone in the health service, if there are any problems in terms of waiting for a long time. We need that early intervention while people are waiting and that doesn't always work. Once again, I have asked for that to be addressed.

But I want to thank you also, Bethan, for everything that you have done in terms of perinatal care and mental health. I know that you've done excellent work in that area, and thank you very much for everything that you've done during this Senedd. It's been a very long period for you and I know that you've had a profound effect on this Senedd, and thank you very much for everything that you've done.