Questions now from the party spokespeople. Conservative spokesperson, James Evans.

Diolch, Llywydd. Deputy Minister, this is the first opportunity I've had to welcome you to your post and I look forward to working with you over the coming months and years ahead. Minister, we're currently facing a mental health epidemic here in Wales. Referrals are up, section 136 detentions are rising very sharply in young people and more young people are self-harming than ever before. So, what are your Government's priorities, going forward, to tackle this situation, as currently things are getting worse, not better?

Thank you for that question and thank you for your good wishes. Likewise, I'm very keen to work across parties to improve the mental health of everyone in Wales. 

I do take issue with what you've said about us facing a mental health epidemic. I think we need to be very careful about the language that we use and that that kind of language can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. The evidence was that earlier on this year, referrals rose dramatically, but they are stabilising again. But that doesn't mean that we are in any way complacent about the challenges we will face as a result, especially, of the pandemic, and that's something that I'm focusing on all the time.

My overriding priorities are to ensure that people receive access to timely, appropriate support at the same time as delivering on the reforms that we as a Government are committed to in terms of having a more preventative, early intervention approach to mental health, which will prevent those problems from escalating to the kinds of levels we see occasionally.

Thank you for that, Minister. Actually, the data does state that we are having a serious, serious issue here with mental health in Wales, and I know you understand that. Maybe you didn't like the language I used, but that is where I see us going with this, unfortunately. Many vulnerable young children are still struggling to be seen by a professional—60 per cent of young children are still waiting more than four weeks for a specialist CAMHS appointment. Charities that I am meeting with are telling me this is just not acceptable. So, what exactly does this Government have planned to support those young children, to prevent their poor mental health? Because we don't want to see a generation of young people lost to mental health disorders.

Absolutely, I certainly recognise the scale of the challenge that we face. It's the use of the term 'epidemic' that I take issue with, really, in this context.

Our approach in Wales is very much based on the recognition that we need to promote resilience, we need to intervene early, and all our reforms are based on changing that whole system, to have that early intervention and preventative approach that we need in Wales. The figures that you highlight in relation to waiting times—we did see a spike in referrals for children and young people specialist CAMHS, and the figure that you have highlighted is correct. It does vary across Wales, and I am meeting regularly with vice-chairs to discuss their performance in this area, as well as having focused discussions with health boards where there are particular problems.

The other point that I would make is that we know that a lot of the children who are waiting for specialist CAMHS assessments are not going to meet the threshold for specialist CAMHS, and should really be helped earlier on in the system. I know too that there are lots of really good tier 0 services that are available in Wales, but that families aren't always taking those up. So, what would be really helpful for me, and for children and young people, is if we could all do what we can as well to highlight the value of those lower-level interventions, which in all likelihood are going to be the ones lots of children and young people are going to need anyway.

Thank you for that, Minister. As you can tell, children's mental health and young people's mental health is something that's really, really important to me, and early help and intervention is really, really important. I think, between you and me, to highlight what the third sector can do as well, to really help young people in those early stages, is very, very important. However, with that in mind, Minister, we've seen, obviously, the peak at the minute with younger people with their mental health, and that's been caused because of the lockdowns and firebreaks, and it has had a massive detrimental impact on the mental health of young people. Three quarters of young people said their mental health was worse in the early months of the pandemic, and seven in 10 British teenagers fear the pandemic will make their future worse. With the First Minister failing to rule out any more lockdowns this winter, will you inform this Parliament of the Government's plans on how it's going to prevent any negative effects on young people in any future lockdowns? Diolch, Llywydd.

Thank you. What you ask is a very complex question, because, as I said when we discussed this earlier in the week, these things are all about balance of harms, aren't they? And as much as it harms children not to be in school, it also harms children if COVID rates are really high and lots of family members get affected. So, all these things are about weighing up a balance of harms. We have invested huge sums of money in support for children and young people throughout the pandemic in terms of well-being support through schools, our emotional and mental health well-being toolkit, additional funding for school counselling, and initiatives like that, to make sure that the support is there. But we also have to recognise that we all have a role to play in keeping infections low, so that children and young people can stay in school. At the moment, obviously, they're back in school, and that is great and good for them, and that's what I want to see continued. And as we go forward through the autumn, just to assure you that mental health will continue to be a central consideration for this Government, just as it has been from the very start of the pandemic, and no more so than when it relates to the mental health of children and young people, which is absolutely my top priority, and has been for years.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Thank you very much, Llywydd. I got slightly excited last week when I heard that the Government was to make an announcement on e-prescribing. At last, I said, given that we're only 21 years into the twenty-first century. But my heart sank when I saw that what the Government was announcing was that e-prescribing would be introduced within five years. Why is the Government so determined to move so incredibly slowly on such an important issue? 

Thank you very much, Rhun. I do agree that it is a shame that we haven't gone further than this previously, but we do have a programme in place now. Forty million pounds has been earmarked for that. It's not as though no work has gone on; work has already happened. If you look at Swansea, for example, a lot of work is being done in the hospital there. I'm asking them all the time, 'Why can't you move more quickly?', and one of the reasons they give to me is that you have to hold people's hands through the system. There's no point having all the equipment and all the resources, if people don't use the system, and you have to provide that training on a one-to-one basis. That's why it takes so much time. That's the explanation I've had, at least, from the Swansea health board. But, of course, that's just one element of that. We do hope, where we can, to go more quickly when it comes to primary care. I do hope that we can see that system. It won't be five years. If I'm in this place at that time, it won't be five years. We'll need to go more quickly than that. 

Thank you for that response. I don't believe a word of that explanation for the delay, and I don't believe the Minister herself believes that explanation either. It's 15 years since the Government published its first strategy on e-prescribing. If it's another five years, 20 years will have passed, and, in the meantime, England and Scotland have been able to hold people's hands or whatever needs to be done, and have managed to introduce e-prescribing.

I spoke to one GP recently who was embarrassed when talking to colleagues over the border, or in other parts of the UK, and explaining that she still had to work on paper. To explain the scale of the problem, there was one doctor I was talking to in my constituency who says that he has to deal by hand with 4,000 repeat prescriptions, and that means a lack of time, then, in dealing with patients, and actually seeing those patients. And the question from another GP: why not, in last week's statement, make it clear that you would be willing to prioritise e-prescribing in primary care? Because that's not what they read into that announcement. 

Thank you very much. I can confirm that this is one of the 10 priorities that I have listed for my team, in order to ensure that they understand the importance that I attach to this issue. I do agree that we are a long way behind on this. It was a shock to me to see how far behind we are in terms of e-prescribing. I do think that this is very technical work and it is work where you need to have consent to obtain data, and we are seeing at the moment whether it is possible for us to proceed without legislation, because we have to be sure about who owns the information that is owned by GPs very often—so, how are they going to get patients' consent to ensure that the systems all speak to each other.

I do understand that we do need to move more quickly. I think it will save a lot of time, particularly for GPs, for pharmacies. We can improve the system, and it will save us money in terms of overprescribing, and it will ensure that we can ensure—if you give this prescription, something will automatically pop up, saying that you shouldn't give that prescription, because they will counteract each other. That's quite a complicated programme, and that's why it's taking a long time. But I can assure you that I'm on the case with this, and I'm ensuring that we are going to proceed in this area, as quickly as possible. 

I am pleased that you said that it came as a shock to you to see us so far behind. I see your predecessor sitting very quietly next to you there, and the health Minister before him was the current First Minster, of course. But, throughout this pandemic, we have seen how services can move quickly and introduce change quickly, when the leadership and the political will are there. We can create services that are appropriate to our needs. And working on paper is holding the health service back. Staff have had enough, and patients, at the end of the day, are suffering as a result of this. So, can we once again have an unambiguous commitment from the Minister to put the same political will into introducing this, and to introduce it now, not within a five-year timescale? Because five years is a very long time for anyone; in the digital age, it's a lifetime.

Thank you. I can confirm that it won't take five years. We are going to move more quickly than that. I can't give—. I don't think we can introduce it now, because it is a complex issue. The technology is very complex, the skills that are needed are very complex. You need people who really understand this technology, and everybody wants the same people at the moment. That's why HEIW is taking this seriously and is putting actions in place so that everyone understands the importance of technology in the future. So, this is a point that the entire NHS understands we need to move on.