3. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:43 pm on 26 May 2021.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 2:43, 26 May 2021

Can I congratulate the Trefnydd on her appointment to the Welsh Government's Cabinet and on her other ministerial role as well for both rural affairs and north Wales? Can I call for two Welsh Government statements today, please? The first is in respect of neonatal care in Wales. The Minister will be well aware of the fact that there's been a significant impact on visiting arrangements to neonatal care facilities across the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the charity for babies that are born premature and sick, Bliss, has raised concerns about the visiting arrangements to these, excluding largely the fathers of small and sick babies. And I wonder what action the Welsh Government might be able to take through issuing more updated national guidance, now that the vaccination rate has been so successful and we've seen a significant fall in the number of COVID cases. So, could we have an update on the arrangements for visiting in those particular neonatal care centres across the country?

Secondly, could we have another statement from the Minister for health, this time on access to face-to-face GP appointments? I'm getting increasing correspondence from across the constituency from people who are desperate to be able to book a face-to-face appointment with their GP and who are increasingly frustrated by the call-first triage system that is operating across north Wales and other parts of the country. Now, I can appreciate, obviously, the need to safeguard the infection control arrangements in our GP surgeries, but this is now becoming a matter of contention in many communities and I wonder whether there can be fresh guidance issued that allows a gradual face-to-face appointment regime to return, a more routine regime to return, to our GP surgeries across the country. Thank you.