2. Will the First Minister make a statement on emergency services in Pembrokeshire? OQ56863

I thank the Member for that question. Llywydd, emergency services in Pembrokeshire continue to work collaboratively to meet the needs of local people during the continuing public health crisis.

First Minister, in 2014, in your capacity as the then health Minister, you closed the special care baby unit at Withybush General Hospital, and you dismissed calls at that time that it could impact the sustainability of other services. And yet, you may have seen reports that paediatric emergency assessments will now be removed from Withybush hospital until at least next year. That means children requiring emergency treatment will have to travel to Glangwili, putting pressure on the local ambulance service, which, on top of that, is facing a potential reduction in capacity, from seven down to five, which I believe is totally unacceptable. Now, this reduction will have a very serious impact on the people of Pembrokeshire and, indeed, on ambulance staff. An given that the military will be supporting the ambulance service, then it doesn't make any sense to reduce this cover. So, First Minister, do you accept that taking away paediatric services from Withybush hospital will have a serious impact on children and young people, as well as on ambulance cover? And will you now intervene to make sure that these paediatric services are available at Withybush hospital and that we don't see a reduction in long-term ambulance services in Pembrokeshire?

Well, Llywydd, those supplementary questions are a farrago of speculation dressed up as fact. [Interruption.] I'm well aware of what the health board has published, Mr Davies, and it didn't publish what you have just said. So, I'm well aware of what was published, and I'm happy to correct the record, given what you have just suggested.

Let me go to the start of your question. He is quite right, Llywydd, that, back in 2014, I did indeed accept the recommendation of the royal colleges, accept the recommendation of the expert group that was set up to review services in Withybush, accepted their recommendation that, for the safety of children in that part of Pembrokeshire, specialist services should be concentrated at Glangwili. I'm very glad indeed that I accepted those recommendations, despite his own opposition to them at the time.

What the health board has said, Llywydd, is that the arrangements put in place on 24 March 2020 will not be changed. So, the Member implies to everybody that there is some new change to the services. The health board says, on 24 March 2020, it made adjustments because of coronavirus; those adjustments will not change. He then repeats what he said on the floor of the Chamber last week—an unsubstantiated rumour that the roster review is going to reduce ambulance cover in Pembrokeshire. I've not seen anything to substantiate that. The roster review is a continuous process, it is a national not a local exercise, it's designed to make sure that there are local crews in the right place to respond to the needs of those populations, and that is what the review will continue to do.

Minister, I wanted to ask a question in relation to access to NHS dentists in the Hywel Dda area. Hywel Dda Community Health Council undertook some mystery shopping exercises earlier this year, and found that some practices told us that they had long waiting lists for NHS care—some up to three years long. Out of the 45 practices they spoke to, less than 50 per cent were accepting new NHS patients, and three practices confirmed straight away that new private patients could be seen straight away.

I've also had residents contacting me about the difficulties in accessing an NHS dentist, including residents who are struggling to access emergency dental care. It's causing significant anxiety, as I'm sure you will be aware, and I just wondered if I could have an update on what specific steps the Government is taking in conjunction with the health board to improve access to NHS dentists in the Hywel Dda health board. Diolch yn fawr iawn. 

Thank you very much to Jane Dodds for that question, Llywydd. 

The Welsh Government's work in dentistry continues to be focused on assisting the profession to recover from the impact of coronavirus, which was greater in dentistry than almost any other primary care profession, because of the nature of dentistry: the aerosol generating procedures, the dentists rely on; the level of PPE that dental staff have to wear; the impact on ventilation needs, where the Welsh Government has invested significant amounts of capital to assist dental practices to be able to improve ventilation and, therefore, to be able to see more patients. It remains the fact that longer time still has to be provided between each patient, because dental practices, surgeries, have to be cleaned to a different standard to avoid the risk of dentists being exposed to coronavirus or it being passed on to patients. 

As of this week, Llywydd, we are back to 30,000 people being seen every week in person across Wales, and a further 2,000 people receiving advice or consultation virtually from dental practices. It's not enough. There are parts of Wales where people still have to wait too long, but while we are still on the journey out of coronavirus and those safeguards have to be taken, I'm afraid that prioritisation by clinical need remains the way in which dentists are able to offer appointments and access to their services.