5. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Access to defibrillators

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:13 pm on 15 September 2021.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 4:13, 15 September 2021

Well, I'm certainly happy to take a look at that. I think that the fact that we have put considerable additional resources in over this summer, I hope, will go some way towards reaching a target. I'm happy to look at a target because I do think that it's important that people keep our feet to the fire in this area. So, I am happy to look at that.

What's interesting is that, actually, there are areas where we are actually further ahead than they are in England, for example. I have been very taken by the campaign that Jack Sargeant mentioned, by Mark King, for example, who has been an incredible campaigner, trying to get people to introduce these into every school in the United Kingdom, in memory of his son, Oliver, who so tragically died. We have, actually, already offered every secondary school in Wales a defibrillator. That's already happened in Wales, so we are further ahead in some areas.

As I say, it's a complicated area. We have got to think about the skills issue, which so many people have touched upon and as Suzy Davies advocated so readily when she was here. On top of that, I think that it's really important that we understand that they have got to be maintained; otherwise, they are simply not worth having. So, I would join with Janet Finch-Saunders in condemning those who vandalise this life-saving equipment, wherever it happens in Wales. That's why we have established the Save a Life Cymru partnership, in January 2019, to bring together all of these different pieces of the jigsaw, in relation to encouraging public participation in taking action when faced with an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. And Save a Life Cymru works with a very large number of organisations in this space, as well as mounting a comprehensive 'touch someone's life' communications campaign to encourage people to come forward, as so many of you have talked about. Some of you are making that active offer in your own communities.

The number of defibrillators is growing all the time. There are currently 5,423 public-access defibrillators that have been registered with the Welsh ambulance service trust and the circuit, and I'd just like to say something about that circuit, because Janet Finch-Saunders suggested perhaps that we should make this funding conditional on the fact that they need to register. So, you’re absolutely right—there's probably a lot more, but, if people don’t know where they are, that's not much good. So, I’m very happy to make that funding conditional on the fact that they have to register their whereabouts with the circuit.