23/09/2014 am.pm


23/09/2014

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 23/09/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Good afternoon and welcome to the programme and our weekly coverage

:00:22.:00:24.

Later this afternoon, he'll be making a statement to

:00:25.:00:31.

the Assembly on the outcome of the Scottish independence

:00:32.:00:33.

referendum and the implications of the No vote on Wales.

:00:34.:00:37.

Before that, he'll be quizzed as usual by AMs and I'm sure

:00:38.:00:40.

someone will weave in the fallout from last week's referendum.

:00:41.:00:44.

I've had a look at the order paper and he can also expect questions on

:00:45.:00:47.

cancer services, public transport and the universal credit scheme.

:00:48.:00:52.

Don't forget you can follow all the latest on Welsh politics

:00:53.:00:56.

Time to go over to the Senedd now where the

:00:57.:01:02.

Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler, is opening proceedings.

:01:03.:01:11.

Good afternoon. The first item this afternoon is questions to the First

:01:12.:01:18.

Minister. Question one, Kirsty Williams. Will the Minister make a

:01:19.:01:23.

stake and on the provision of health services in Brecon and Radnor ship?

:01:24.:01:27.

Our priority is to ensure that all people in Brecon and Radnor shut

:01:28.:01:33.

receive safe and sustainable health care and health care which is

:01:34.:01:36.

delivered as close to home as possible. I have recently been

:01:37.:01:44.

contacted by a clinician who looks after my constituents and he states

:01:45.:01:48.

that on his recent ward round out of the 12 patients in his bed is five

:01:49.:01:52.

were suffering from delayed transfers of care and five more when

:01:53.:01:58.

you ring that edition. He put that down to inability of the local

:01:59.:02:01.

social services department to provide timely packages of care at

:02:02.:02:07.

home. I have also been contacted by constituents who want to get their

:02:08.:02:12.

relatives at district hospitals back to community facilities but they

:02:13.:02:14.

cant because there is a lack of beds. What can the Welsh Government

:02:15.:02:18.

do to ensure that healthcare and social services and more in

:02:19.:02:21.

alignment and that patients do not have to suffer because of the

:02:22.:02:26.

inability to source packages of home care. The leader of the Liberal

:02:27.:02:31.

Democrats will note this form is an important part of the Williams

:02:32.:02:38.

commission. Delayed transfers of care were down in July and it's

:02:39.:02:42.

important that local authorities look carefully at the packages they

:02:43.:02:45.

provide so that people can go home. We want to make sure that people

:02:46.:02:50.

don't spend more time in hospital than they need to and we expect

:02:51.:02:55.

poets and every other local authority in Wales to deliver

:02:56.:03:01.

service that people expect. We know that there are issues to be

:03:02.:03:05.

addressed to improve the service local people. I welcomed the Health

:03:06.:03:14.

Minister's decision earlier this year to commission a special review

:03:15.:03:18.

of healthcare in Wales and they understand the Welsh Institute for

:03:19.:03:22.

health and social care which has carried out the review is due to

:03:23.:03:26.

report in the autumn. Are you able to provide an update on the steady

:03:27.:03:33.

and I you able to indicate a timetable for your response to its

:03:34.:03:42.

findings? The timetable has not changed to my knowledge. It is an

:03:43.:03:47.

important study and we look forward to studying it in depth. The people

:03:48.:03:57.

of Brecon and Radnor ship have their health provided by the Powys health

:03:58.:04:03.

board which of course had an overspend of almost ?20 million in

:04:04.:04:08.

the last financial year as a result of your labour government's NHS

:04:09.:04:13.

cuts. What assurances can you give the people of reckoning and

:04:14.:04:19.

Radnorshire and the way the country that the resources which are

:04:20.:04:21.

available to the NHS are sufficient to meet their needs? The Ambulance

:04:22.:04:28.

Service is in crisis, waiting lists are spiralling out of control and

:04:29.:04:31.

cancer patients cannot access the tropes they need. If you look at the

:04:32.:04:41.

figures for Powys in July of this year, we see the referral to

:04:42.:04:51.

treatment times shows that no patient will -- waits in excess of

:04:52.:05:00.

36 weeks. The people of poets have health care which is provided well

:05:01.:05:05.

for them both by endless providers and Welsh providers. We want to make

:05:06.:05:11.

sure as we look towards the budget that many in Wales in terms of

:05:12.:05:14.

health spending continues to grow. We will be in a position where

:05:15.:05:17.

health spending will spearhead remains above that of England as it

:05:18.:05:27.

has always been. To return to real services for constituents in Brecon

:05:28.:05:32.

and Radnorshire, one of the problems with there being no District General

:05:33.:05:37.

Hospital in the county is the reliance on community services. As

:05:38.:05:42.

we weigh up the report you are about to receive, how can you assure the

:05:43.:05:47.

government's responses one that actually develops community services

:05:48.:05:53.

and maintains them because in West Wales it is fine to deal with some

:05:54.:05:57.

of the cats happening in hospitals but you must have those community

:05:58.:06:01.

services in place to take up the slack? The study has been welcomed

:06:02.:06:12.

by everybody involved in the sector in mid Wales and we are looking

:06:13.:06:19.

forward to see what that case will be. We expected to be completed by

:06:20.:06:26.

the end of this month and once the results are available the outcomes

:06:27.:06:30.

are available, the Minister will consider those outcomes. Will the

:06:31.:06:38.

First Minister make a statement on his priorities for transport in West

:06:39.:06:43.

Wales over the next 12 months? We have introduced a range of actions

:06:44.:06:46.

to improve transport and we are continuing to drive -- provide

:06:47.:06:55.

support for bus services and in April of course be officially opened

:06:56.:07:00.

the A4707 between Saint clears and red roses. I recently met

:07:01.:07:12.

constituents who are calling for a bypass to deal with some of the

:07:13.:07:16.

traffic congestion going into the town from the direction of Cardigan.

:07:17.:07:21.

Your predecessor acknowledged difficulties of using the roads in

:07:22.:07:24.

this part of Fishguard so will you as a government commit to

:07:25.:07:29.

considering proposals that would resolve these problems, including

:07:30.:07:32.

the creation of a bypass in the area given that we are now to receive

:07:33.:07:39.

another round of European funding? I know the road well and that is bend

:07:40.:07:46.

on one part of the road near the harbour. I would imagine it would be

:07:47.:07:53.

a major project to create a bypass but having said that, I will ask the

:07:54.:08:01.

Minister to consider the demand for a bypass in that part of Fishguard.

:08:02.:08:27.

What is the government's policy on roundabouts on dual carriageway is

:08:28.:08:31.

because questions have been raised on access to the new road you have

:08:32.:08:34.

just ancient between Saint clears and red roses. There is concern that

:08:35.:08:42.

people may be travelling at great speed on that route and it could

:08:43.:08:49.

cause accidents. It is of course usual to have roundabouts on all

:08:50.:08:58.

roads but not on motorways. As regards that road in particular, the

:08:59.:09:02.

Minister will write to you directly on that point. We now move to

:09:03.:09:08.

questions from the party leaders and first the leader of Plaid Cymru,

:09:09.:09:13.

Leanne Wood. Events in Scotland and the response of the UK parties has

:09:14.:09:19.

created a new context for debate on the constitution in these islands.

:09:20.:09:22.

Is it your view that the time has now come to go further on tax powers

:09:23.:09:29.

for this National Assembly and you agree that a referendum on income

:09:30.:09:35.

tax powers is now not necessary? Referendum is necessary but I do

:09:36.:09:39.

agree the current suggestion in the Wales Bill is now consigned to

:09:40.:09:48.

history. I'd do think that is great scope now to look once again at the

:09:49.:09:53.

tax varying arrangements of the devolved administrations as a whole

:09:54.:10:00.

and to go beyond the Wales Bill. It is interesting that you want to keep

:10:01.:10:08.

the referendum in place. I've listened very carefully to what you

:10:09.:10:11.

had to say in recent days on the question of home rule for Wales.

:10:12.:10:16.

It's important to establish how your suggestion of home rule differs from

:10:17.:10:23.

the current arrangements in the Selkirk proposals for further

:10:24.:10:26.

devolution. I wonder if you could tell us, do you for example support

:10:27.:10:30.

the devolution of the criminal justice system to this National

:10:31.:10:35.

Assembly in the near rather than the distant future? Or do you support

:10:36.:10:40.

for example the removal of the upper limit on energy powers? What it is

:10:41.:10:49.

acted as home rule lookalike you? The issue of powers has been dealt

:10:50.:10:53.

with separately and the Wales Bill must progress through Parliament. I

:10:54.:10:57.

would like to see the whole of part one implement it and the whole of

:10:58.:11:02.

part two and Wales' and offending dealt with. I will envisage the

:11:03.:11:08.

convention looking at the structure of devolution within the UK and that

:11:09.:11:14.

would mean they would need to be a meeting of all four administrations

:11:15.:11:17.

and the way forward would need to be agreed. It is not sufficient for the

:11:18.:11:25.

whole thing to be done in Westminster without there being

:11:26.:11:29.

proper input from Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Things have

:11:30.:11:39.

changed and I have to say to members that if I had said three months ago

:11:40.:11:42.

I was in favour of home rule but things have changed and I have not

:11:43.:11:47.

in silent in terms of my view on what the future should hold. I

:11:48.:11:49.

welcome the indications you have given today on a possible change in

:11:50.:11:56.

pace and the fact you want to go beyond the silk recommendations in

:11:57.:11:59.

terms of powers for Wales. In that spirit would you be prepared to work

:12:00.:12:04.

with me and the other party leaders to agree a joint Wales position on

:12:05.:12:11.

securing meaningful new powers from the UK Government by or during the

:12:12.:12:18.

next assembly term? I am prepared to work with all parties to do that. We

:12:19.:12:24.

did it before the 2011 referendum. I am aware of Plaid Cymru's view but I

:12:25.:12:33.

don't know what the view of the leader of the Welsh Conservatives is

:12:34.:12:36.

on this issue. As a bare minimum we need to see plus one -- part one and

:12:37.:12:43.

part two addressed and we need to see the structure of the UK's

:12:44.:12:51.

constitution changed. The idea that the Secretary of State for Wales

:12:52.:12:54.

should be able to veto any bill from this chamber is wrong and the idea

:12:55.:12:58.

that Wales should not have control over its own energy resources is

:12:59.:13:03.

also wrong to my mind. It's also wrong that even if this is a

:13:04.:13:07.

theoretical possibility that it is possible in law for the UK

:13:08.:13:13.

Parliament to abolish this place without reference to the people of

:13:14.:13:17.

Wales. That cannot be right in the 21st-century. The leader of the

:13:18.:13:23.

Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams. 18 months ago I challenged

:13:24.:13:27.

UN figures that show that some patients were awaiting up to five

:13:28.:13:32.

and a half hours in the back of ambulances outside a handy

:13:33.:13:35.

departments. You said you were assessing the needs in terms of what

:13:36.:13:41.

must be done. Last week we saw the tragic consequences of such delays.

:13:42.:13:45.

Could you outline what you have done in the last 18 months to resolve

:13:46.:13:50.

this situation? I urge members not to pre-empt the enquiry that will

:13:51.:13:56.

take place after the events of last week and my condolences go to the

:13:57.:14:00.

family. It is not quite as straightforward as it seems. I am

:14:01.:14:05.

pleased with the fact that we have seen an improvement in ambulance

:14:06.:14:11.

response times and I expect that improvement to continue.

:14:12.:14:18.

In The most recent figures show that your further away than ever meeting

:14:19.:14:24.

your accident and emergency targets. Do you anticipate that the

:14:25.:14:33.

Welsh National Health Service will ever meet your accident and

:14:34.:14:38.

emergency targets while you are First Minister? One of the things

:14:39.:14:50.

that is the lead sometimes when people are talking about waiting

:14:51.:14:57.

times is that this does not refer to people waiting for treatment, it is

:14:58.:15:01.

waiting time between arriving and leaving hospital. There will be

:15:02.:15:06.

occasions but sometimes practitioners have to keep people in

:15:07.:15:13.

to waste for tests -- wait for tests. It is important that people

:15:14.:15:24.

do not have too spend an inordinate amount of time in accident and

:15:25.:15:28.

emergency and most people are in and out within four hours but there will

:15:29.:15:32.

always be people who will spend more time in accident and emergency

:15:33.:15:43.

awaiting results. It was said the delayed transfers of care would be

:15:44.:15:46.

tackled with a new urgency that they are up and what they were last year

:15:47.:15:51.

which means fewer beds for people who need to be there for clinical

:15:52.:15:54.

reasons which can lead to longer waiting times in accident and

:15:55.:16:00.

emergency departments and subsequently more ambulances

:16:01.:16:02.

queueing outside accident and emergency waiting to discharge their

:16:03.:16:06.

patients. When will you see that there will be dramatic improvements

:16:07.:16:13.

in delayed transfers of care? She is correct that figures are up and

:16:14.:16:20.

better this time last year but they are down from the previous month. A

:16:21.:16:25.

number of actions have been identified at local and national

:16:26.:16:28.

level which need to be taken forward. There are ways now to

:16:29.:16:34.

ensure more collaborative working between health and social services

:16:35.:16:38.

to reduce the number of delayed transfers of care and we expect is

:16:39.:16:44.

that act is rolled out to decrease further. First Minister, last

:16:45.:16:55.

January you said that we want a sustainable health service based on

:16:56.:16:59.

the guidance of the doctors give. Last week many of us would have seen

:17:00.:17:03.

the report by the petition medical Association that says it faces

:17:04.:17:08.

imminent meltdown. Their key recommendation was that the Welsh

:17:09.:17:13.

government should commission a enquiry into all National Health

:17:14.:17:18.

Service services throughout Wales. Doctors have given their advice.

:17:19.:17:25.

When will the government acts? The difficulty is that the British

:17:26.:17:27.

Medical Association are not consistent in the messages they

:17:28.:17:33.

give. In March, they said that the data demonstrates clearly that Welsh

:17:34.:17:41.

hospitals deliver worse outcomes in English hospitals is a wicked

:17:42.:17:51.

slander. Doctor Mark Porter, the chairman of the BMA council said

:17:52.:17:58.

that the government were being fundamentally dishonest of their

:17:59.:18:02.

funding of the National Health Service. When you have such

:18:03.:18:06.

conflicting statements, which ones do you believe? First Minister, I

:18:07.:18:14.

think that emphasises how important this reporters they have brought

:18:15.:18:19.

forward. Very often when they have wanted to as an opposition, they

:18:20.:18:25.

have criticised as and do not take a political position on this. They

:18:26.:18:30.

listen to their members and the act. The BMA says that the NHS in Wales

:18:31.:18:34.

has a culture of not listening which is a widespread problem across the

:18:35.:18:40.

NHS institutions which poses a significant threat to patient

:18:41.:18:46.

safety. The current arrangements for raising concerns do little to

:18:47.:19:03.

reassure the doctors involved. When can he see that safety and clinical

:19:04.:19:07.

excellence will be at the forefront of safety? When I came to live in

:19:08.:19:14.

Cardiff, I lived in a House with six medical students. A lot of them are

:19:15.:19:19.

consultants and general practitioners now. I spoke to a few

:19:20.:19:23.

of them over the weekend and not one of them agreed with the comment that

:19:24.:19:29.

was made. I am unimpressed by an organisation that calls for an

:19:30.:19:32.

enquiry into its own members which is exactly what the BMA has done but

:19:33.:19:36.

I think it is important that it is consistent and what it says and that

:19:37.:19:41.

where it has concerns it may want to address those concerns to the

:19:42.:19:44.

government first rather than putting them in the media. This is the usual

:19:45.:19:49.

flippancy and arrogance that we see from this First Minister. He has a

:19:50.:19:54.

comprehensive report that is looking at the NHS and its entirety was as

:19:55.:20:00.

an organisation that when they felt the need to criticise us as our

:20:01.:20:04.

party are any of the other parties, they have criticised then offered

:20:05.:20:08.

the view that the software for the Welsh NHS. They have brought former

:20:09.:20:13.

attribute that says an independent enquiry is required in order to look

:20:14.:20:20.

at all aspects of the Welsh NHS. The other highlighted that the Welsh NHS

:20:21.:20:25.

faces imminent meltdown. They have highlighted the doctors feel

:20:26.:20:30.

sanctions will be taken against them if they raise legitimate concerns.

:20:31.:20:38.

When, First Minister, will you bring forward such an independent

:20:39.:20:43.

enquiry? You are prepared to listen to some clinical advice but when it

:20:44.:20:46.

does not suit you you're not prepared to listen to what is good

:20:47.:20:55.

for the NHS in Wales. If he has evidence of doctors being

:20:56.:20:57.

suppressed, let him bring it forward rather than making cheap

:20:58.:21:05.

allegations. The reality of the situation is that his party has been

:21:06.:21:08.

described as fundamentally dishonest by the BMA. Why should we disbelieve

:21:09.:21:15.

them in that regard? Let us not be naive about this. That I paid

:21:16.:21:19.

discussions taking place. The BMA says it wants to be listened to. Why

:21:20.:21:24.

then has not appear that any of the pay negotiations

:21:25.:22:11.

cancer in Wales? -- bowel cancer. We have a proactive screening programme

:22:12.:22:19.

for bowel cancer. Only three health boards in Wales have undergone

:22:20.:22:21.

accreditation further endoscopy units.

:22:22.:24:02.

accreditation further endoscopy Quite often trains are late and very

:24:03.:24:07.

cramped and quite often in poor condition which is totally

:24:08.:24:11.

unacceptable. I know last week there was some discussion during your

:24:12.:24:17.

question time on the future rail franchise arrangements. What impact

:24:18.:24:20.

do you think these blue experiences will have on any future rail

:24:21.:24:27.

franchise in Wales and additionally what work will be done on the South

:24:28.:24:31.

Wales Metro project to make sure that we get the travelling

:24:32.:24:37.

conditions passengers right? She raises up perfectly valid point and

:24:38.:24:39.

we're stuck under franchise arrangements made previously which

:24:40.:24:45.

have not consistently serve the people of Wales well. We want to

:24:46.:24:50.

ensure in the next franchise there are frequent services and the

:24:51.:24:52.

rolling stock is of sufficient quality as well and also to see more

:24:53.:24:59.

frequent services will stop you will further Minister for economy and

:25:00.:25:03.

signs and transport show her enthusiasm for the South Wales Metro

:25:04.:25:10.

project and moving that forward from Aberdare and other Valley

:25:11.:25:15.

communities should see cleaner and better and faster transport. First

:25:16.:25:22.

Minister, the Metro project which you just close your answer on, is a

:25:23.:25:27.

vital part of the transport infrastructure for the future in

:25:28.:25:33.

south Wales. What is your take at the moment on how the discussions

:25:34.:25:39.

are progressing and what can we look forward to in the future? There have

:25:40.:25:46.

been no discussions with the Welsh office, it is the Wales Office. The

:25:47.:26:01.

issue is this, I have noticed a difference in tone with the new

:26:02.:26:08.

occupant of the Wales Office and I welcome that. He has said he is

:26:09.:26:11.

looking to see a solution which we all want to see, a solution that is

:26:12.:26:17.

fair and lovers, and it is hope of all involved that we see the project

:26:18.:26:25.

are livered. If I can echo the comments made previously, the

:26:26.:26:30.

valleys must see DTD improvements from the investment in rail. In

:26:31.:26:37.

2011, the deputy minister for transport said he was announcing

:26:38.:26:45.

plans to reopen the rail passenger line from Aberdare which was closed

:26:46.:26:51.

50 years ago. The closure has meant the loss of an important transport

:26:52.:27:00.

link of people in the Canon Valley. Important work was taken as his

:27:01.:27:03.

office term came to an end shortly after that. That appears to be in

:27:04.:27:08.

very little development and progressing this passenger service

:27:09.:27:13.

since then. Can you offer any hope to the people of the Canon Valley

:27:14.:27:19.

that the service will be reinstated, or visit deemed not to be at

:27:20.:27:30.

priority now? It has been right to say that we've seen progress on the

:27:31.:27:37.

rail and we are seeing improvements on the line between Wrexham and

:27:38.:27:42.

Saltney Junction and we will of course continue to review for the

:27:43.:27:47.

reopening. The line are still there because it was serving to a colliery

:27:48.:27:50.

and it is something that we will keep an review because you're good

:27:51.:27:51.

record on reopening reliance. I'm a friend of the Archbishop

:27:52.:28:01.

of Canterbury. What exactly does it entail,

:28:02.:28:04.

this job? There aren't many mums who'd

:28:05.:28:11.

let their sons run off to join the circus.

:28:12.:28:14.

Welcome to Keele University. You can't just get things by asking.

:28:15.:28:16.

I can. Is Tony Benn in today? How do you fancy coming to

:28:17.:28:21.

work for me? Kit man. I've always wanted to be happy.

:28:22.:28:24.

'..in the network premiere...' So I decided to be. What's the Neil

:28:25.:28:28.

Baldwin Football Club? My own team.

:28:29.:28:34.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS