Mental Health Services in Vale of Clwyd

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:40 pm on 5 July 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:40, 5 July 2022

Well, Llywydd, I echo, of course, what the Member said about recognising the work that our very committed staff in the national health service do every single day, on this anniversary of the NHS. I agree with him that the time that assessments are taking under the local primary mental health service in Betsi Cadwaladr are not acceptable. There have been some signs of improvement in recent months, but that improvement urgently needs to continue. Once you have an assessment in the health board, then the performance in terms of from-referral-to-treatment is better in the local primary mental health services, particularly in relation to adults, where, for most of the last 12 months, performance has been above the target set by the Welsh Government. So, once you get into the system, then the help that you receive is usually timely and is appreciated by those in receipt of it. But the assessment period is too long, particularly for children, and there we look for a proper improvement in the way that the health board performs.

As far as the facilities at YGC are concerned, I think, the Member has an over-pessimistic view of developments there. We want to invest in those services, we want to make sure the physical fabric of the services is sufficient for patients, and we look forward to being able to approve the proposals that the health board will bring forward in order to do just that.