Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:22 pm on 8 November 2022.
Thank you, and I'm certainly very sorry to hear about the health issues that both Owain and Ethan are experiencing. What we as a Government expect is that people are able to access recommended therapies routinely through the NHS, and it's important to highlight that there are treatments that are routinely available for brain tumours. You obviously referred to new therapies that have to go through, quite correctly, both NICE and the medicines and healthcare regulatory agency trials, and they are normally developed through clinical trials ahead of that. Obviously, we would expect eligible patients in Wales to be able to access open clinical trials as well, prior to licensing any new therapy, if, indeed, that was the clinical decision that had been taken. You've done absolutely the right thing writing to the Minister for Health and Social Services, and I'm sure that she'll respond in due course.