2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:45 pm on 1 March 2022.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 2:45, 1 March 2022

Thank you, Trefnydd, for your statement. Can I call for two statements from the Minister for Health and Social Services, please, in the coming weeks? I'm bitterly disappointed that the Minister made an announcement to extend what we all hoped would be only temporary arrangements for abortions without the need to see a medical professional in person. An announcement was made last week. Obviously, they are significant changes to the permanent abortion regime, and there are many people who have contacted me to say that they are very concerned about risks to women's health as a result of these changes, and indeed the prospect that people can be coerced into taking abortion medication, and not only that, but that the system could also potentially be abused and people could obtain abortion medication and then pass them on to others. We need the opportunity to scrutinise this decision, and I think that there should be the opportunity for a debate or a statement in this Chamber prior to any changes being introduced.

Can I also call for a statement from the Minister for health on mental health services in north Wales? There was another damning set of media reports as a result of two individual reports into the deaths of patients at the Hergest unit in Ysbyty Gwynedd and Tŷ Llywelyn in Llanfairfechan last week. These were appalling situations, heartbreaking for the families of those involved, and they underscore the need for more determined and rapid action from the Welsh Government and others to get to grips once and for all with the crisis in our mental health services in north Wales. This is a board now that is not in special measures—people find it extraordinary that it was taken out—and people want to have some confidence in the future. Now, there was a huge amount of respect for Donna Ockenden, the person who exposed many of the failings at the Tawel Fan ward a number of years ago, back in 2016. Can I ask the Welsh Government to consider working with the health board to appoint Donna Ockenden to undertake a further review to determine what progress has been made and to establish an action plan in order to get this health board back into shape so that people can be confident that when they are in need of mental health services because of acute mental health problems, they can get the care that they need?