Perinatal Mental Health Support

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:30 pm on 29 September 2021.

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Photo of Lynne Neagle Lynne Neagle Labour 2:30, 29 September 2021

Can I thank Buffy Williams for that question? I entirely recognise the issues that you highlight and also the impact that the pandemic has had on families' experiences of having babies. This is a priority area for us; it's a priority area in our mental health delivery plan. We've now got perinatal mental health services in every part of Wales and we've invested £3 million a year recurrently to support those services. Health boards are also working towards meeting the relevant Royal College of Psychiatrists quality standards and we're investing additional mental health service improvement funding to support that.

In terms of your question about training, my understanding is that perinatal mental health is included across many programmes, although I'm not convinced that that approach is consistent across Wales. I've therefore asked officials to ensure that the perinatal mental health network works with Health Education and Improvement Wales and training providers to strengthen and standardise this approach. And I should say that perinatal mental health is a priority area for HEIW too. We'll also ensure that this is a core element of the training framework being developed by NHS Education for Scotland, which we're adapting for use in Wales. This multimodule training will ensure that all staff coming into contact with families during the perinatal period will receive appropriate training. I'm very happy to give you the assurance that you asked for.