Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:42 pm on 24 March 2021.
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.