Cancer Waiting Times

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:35 pm on 25 October 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:35, 25 October 2022

I thank Jane Dodds; those are all very important points. She's absolutely right—it isn't just the individual, it's the family of the individual that gets caught up in a cancer diagnosis. And the physical impact of a cancer diagnosis is only one of the difficulties that families face. There is fantastic work done by third sector organisations in Wales, simply on trying to make sure that people get the financial help that they need. To be ill with cancer often means that people aren't able to earn in a way that they would have previously, and the benefits system is not sympathetic, in the way that it ought to be, to people who face those difficulties. So, there are practical issues, there are the wider health issues, including mental health impacts, of a diagnosis of that sort. The very many small and local organisations that exist throughout Wales are a sign of the strength of Welsh civic society—that people give their time, raise those moneys, provide those services. And there's the work that the Welsh Government does with the third sector partnership council, a part of our landscape since the very foundation of devolution. We recognise and work with that wider group of people in our society, who want to make sure that the core public services that are provided can be supported and augmented, particularly for people whose needs are greatest.