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Written Assembly Questions tabled on 2 October 2017 for answer on 9 October 2017

R - Signifies the Member has declared an interest.
W - Signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.

(Self-identifying question no. shown in brackets)

Written Questions must be tabled at least five working days before they are to be answered. In practice, Ministers aim to answer within seven/eight days but are not bound to do so. Answers are published in the language in which they are provided, with a translation into English of responses provided in Welsh.

To ask the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport

Angela Burns (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire): How is the Welsh Government working with the private sector to raise awareness of mental health in the workplace and to develop workplace mental health policies? (WAQ74306)

Answer received on 11 October 2017

The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport (Vaughan Gething): Our National Strategy ‘Prosperity for All’ recognises the important contribution that the workplace can make to improving mental health. It also reaffirms our commitment to mental health, placing it as one of five priority areas with the greatest potential contribution to long-term prosperity and wellbeing.
Existing actions include the Healthy Working Wales programme which supports employers to promote the mental and physical health of employees, Over 3,550
organisations in Wales have engaged in the programme, 75% of which are in the private sector.
The Welsh Government has also part funded the Time to Change Wales campaign, which is working with organisations to increase awareness of mental health, including work with many employers in the private sector to tackle discrimination in the workplace.
 
Angela Burns (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire): Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm how many beds are available in each of Wales's hospitals that are specifically available to be used by children and young people with mental health issues, and what percentage of children and young people's ward beds does this equate to? (WAQ74307)

Answer received on 9 October 2017

The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport (Vaughan Gething):  The two dedicated CAMHS inpatient units in Wales provide up to a maximum of 27 beds to treat children and young people requiring hospital treatment for mental illness.  We do not hold detail of the availability or number of beds in other hospitals.

In 2015 the Welsh Government published admissions guidance on the needs of children and young people requiring admission for mental illness.  This states the default position should be admission to one of the two CAMHS units.  However, it recognises there will be instances when an under 18 year old will be admitted to an adult ward, such as a 17 year old who may prefer their treatment in an adult setting.  In these instances health boards should have designated ward(s), or ward areas that appropriately meet the needs of children in terms of environment, staff training and safeguarding.  The decision to place on an adult ward should be based on clinical need, risk and wishes of the patient.  Once admitted to a designated bed, if it is considered a CAMHS bed is appropriate, the expectation is that CAMHS identify a bed within a timescale of 72 hours or sooner.
 
Angela Burns (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire): How many children and young people have presented at each of Wales's A&E departments in the last three years with their primary diagnosis being a mental health concern? (WAQ74308)

Answer received on 9 October 2017

Vaughan Gething: The table below provides the latest data.  Ensuring children and young people who present in crisis have their needs met in a timely fashion, the Welsh Government has invested £2.7m to develop crisis intervention teams.  Working extended hours and at weekends, these teams work closely with adult psychiatric liaison services to undertake assessment; risk management; follow-up and liaison with other services as appropriate.

 
Angela Burns (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire): How many times in each of the last two years have medical patients in each of Wales's hospitals been placed on a mental health ward? (WAQ74309)

Answer received on 9 October 2017

Vaughan Gething: This information is not collected by the Welsh Government.
 
Angela Burns (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire): Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the use of Welsh Government sanctions to health boards when policy or initiative breaches take place? (WAQ74310)

Answer received on 9 October 2017

Vaughan Gething: In terms of the NHS Escalation and Intervention Framework, Welsh Government meets with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) and the Wales Audit Office (WAO) twice a year to discuss performance and other issues within each NHS organisation. Where there are particular concerns, under the framework there is the possibility to increase the escalation level of an organisation.
If any of WAO, HIW or Welsh Government has concerns outside of the normal meeting, there are opportunities to call an extraordinary meeting.
In addition, where health boards have been given additional funding to achieve specific targets, if these have not been met, the Welsh Government has clawed back some of that funding, commensurate to the amount of non-delivery.
 
Lynne Neagle (Torfaen): What steps will the Welsh Government take to ensure that the voices of carers are heard in the consultation on the new Carers' Strategy? (WAQ74311)

Answer received on 9 October 2017

The Minister for Social Services and Public Health (Rebecca Evans): In keeping with the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, the voices of carers have been at the heart of work undertaken so far. Carers and the organisations which represent them have been telling us what matters to them, and this is informing our approach.
They will continue to be involved as we develop out proposals further, including through invitation to a consultation event during the formal consultation to ensure we can continue to drive improvement in the well-being of carers in Wales.

Lynne Neagle (Torfaen): How many of Wales' estimated 370,000 carers have received a carers' assessment? (WAQ74312)

Answer received on 9 October 2017

Rebecca Evans: The 2011 census identified just over 370,000 carers providing more than an hour of unpaid care a week.

It will not be possible to determine how many of these carers had an assessment by local authorities, due to differences in definitions of carers and the timescales in which the data were collected. In addition, not all carers will be in contact with local authority social services.

The Welsh Government will be monitoring the implementation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act through national annual data collections.

Local authorities have submitted data in relation to carers receiving support in 2016/17 and this will be published on 31st October 2017. The publications will include data for the:

• Number of assessments of need for support for adult carers undertaken during the year; and

• Number of assessments of need for support for young carers undertaken during the year.

 
Guidance to local authorities on all of the annual data collections can be found on the Welsh Government website, available at:
http://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/local-authority-social-services-data-collections/?lang=en