Meetings

4.2a The Committee noted the correspondence.

Review of the financial ring fencing arrangements for arrangements for mental health services in Wales - Report to the Minister for Health and Social Services (PDF, 1.5MB)

8.11a The Committee noted the correspondence.

8.10a The Committee noted the correspondence.

8.6a The Committee noted the additional information.

8.1 The Committee considered the evidence received.

Mark Drakeford AM, Minister for Health and Social Services

Vaughan Gething AM, Deputy Minister for Health

Andrew Goodall, Director General for Health and Social Services and NHS Wales Chief Executive

Ruth Hussey, Chief Medical Officer

Albert Heaney, Director of Social Services & Integration

Martin Sollis, Director of Finance

4.1 The Minister and Deputy Minister responded to questions from Members.

4.2 The Minister agreed to provide:

-     A breakdown of the additional £6.8 million planned care performance and £6.8 million Health Board winter pressures allocations provided during 2014-15 (details of which were outlined in paragraph 8 of your written paper), by individual health board.;

-     details of the general make up of primary and secondary care budgets, to include information about:

-     the allocations made to primary and secondary care respectively in 2014-15;

-     the proportion of the 2014-15 overspend that was attributable to primary and secondary care respectively; and

-     the increases/decreases for primary and secondary care budgets respectively for each of the last five years, particularly as a proportion of the overall departmental budget.

-     clarification of the date on which health boards in Wales were informed that overspends and brokerage funding provided at the end of 2013-14, before the commencement of the National Health Service Finance (Wales) Act 2014, would not need to be repaid; and

-     an update on work that the Welsh Government is undertaking on financial flows across health board boundaries.

2.1 The Committee discussed its approach to the general and financial scrutiny of the Minister for Health and Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Health.

6.6a The Committee noted the correspondence from the Minister for Health and Social Services.

10.1 The Committee agreed to write to the Ministers to request information in advance of the session on 17 June 2015, and discussed issues that Members may wish to raise during the session.

7.1 The Committee considered the evidence received.

7.2 The Committee agreed to write to the Minister for Health and Social Services in relation to guidance on safe levels of locum use.

Mark Drakeford AM, Minister for Health and Social Services

Vaughan Gething AM, Deputy Minister for Health

Dr Andrew Goodall, Director General, Health & Social Services

Albert Heaney, Director of Social Services & Integration

Dr Ruth Hussey, Chief Medical Officer

Martin Sollis, Director of Finance Department of Health and Social Services

3.1 The Minister and Deputy Minister responded to questions from Members.

3.2 The Minister agreed to:

·         provide background statistical information relating to the number of individuals in Wales who have chronic illnesses and the number in receipt of treatments; 

·         alert the Committee when the national report of the Trusted to Care spot checks of older people’s mental health wards in Wales is published;

·         write to the Committee to provide details of the capital programme allocations in Betsi Cadwaladar University Health Board’s draft three-year plan, with specific reference to any plans for the development of Ysbyty Gwynedd’s emergency department; and

·         review the Welsh Government’s guidance in relation to local health board service change to ensure that it provides adequately for engagement with staff who might be affected.

7.4a The Committee noted the correspondence.

6.1 The Committee agreed to write to the Ministers to request information in advance of the session on 19 March 2015, and discussed issues Members may wish to raise during the session.

5.1a The Committee noted the correspondence from the First Minister.

5.1a The Committee noted the additional information from the Minister for Health and Social Services in relation to the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust’s recruitment plan.

Mark Drakeford AM, Minister for Health and Social Services

Vaughan Gething AM, Deputy Minister for Health

Andrew Goodall, Director General, Health & Social Services

Albert Heaney, Director of Social Services & Integration

Ruth Hussey, Chief Medical Officer

Martin Sollis, Director of Finance

9.1 Apologies were received from the Deputy Minister for Health.

9.2 The Minister responded to questions from Members.

9.3 The Minister agreed to supply more information about the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust’s recruitment plan for the additional 100 paramedics funded recently by the Welsh Government.

7c.1 The Committee noted the letter.

3c.1 The Committee noted the letter from the Minister for Health and Social Services.

HSC(4)-25-13 paper 2

Mark Drakeford AM, Minister for Health and Social Services

Gwenda Thomas AM, Deputy Minister for Social Services

David Sissling, Director General for Health & Social Services/Chief Executive, NHS Wales

Martin Sollis, Director of Finance

4.1 The Minister for Health and Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Social Services and their officials responded to questions of the Committee.

4.2 The Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Minister for Social Services and officials agreed to provide the following information:

• A note on the review of the Townsend Formula.
• A note clarifying the evidence from the WAO as to whether any medical treatment was cancelled by LHBs for financial reasons in the last financial year.
• A note on how protected funding for social services has been used by individual local authorities for all years available.
• Figures on how many Local Authorities now charge the full capped limit of £50 a week for domiciliary care and how many Local Authorities have increased their charges to £50 a week since the cap was introduced.

4.3 The Deputy Minister for Social Services agreed to keep the Committee informed about the progress of discussions on social services funding and the future monitoring of local government expenditure in this area.

HSC(4)-25-13 paper 1

Mark Drakeford AM, Minister for Health and Social Services

Gwenda Thomas AM, Deputy Minister for Social Services

David Sissling, Director General for Health & Social Services/Chief Executive, NHS Wales.

Dr Ruth Hussey Chief Medical Officer.

Albert Heaney, Director of Social Services Wales

3.1 The Minister for Health and Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Social Services and their officials responded to questions of the Committee.

3.2 The Minister for Health and Social Services and his officials agreed to provide the following information:

• A note on how many staff positions have been terminated by Local Health Boards (LHBs) in recent years and in what disciplines.
• Figures from the Deanery on the recruitment of General Practitioners for each Local Health Board.

HSC(4)-18-13 paper 2

4.1 The Committee discussed the issues on which it wished to receive information at the scrutiny sessions on 18 July.

10b.1 The Committee noted the letter.

10a.1 The Committee noted the letter.

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          Lesley Griffiths AM, Minister for Health and Social Services

David Sissling, Director General, Health, Social Services and Children

Dr Chris Jones, Deputy Chief Medical Officer

2.1 The Minister and officials responded to questions from members of the Committee.

2.2 The Minister agreed to provide further information in writing on the capital project slippages, a breakdown by health board of how the additional £82m for the NHS would be allocated, how the Welsh Government would be feeding in to the review of the balance of competences between the UK and the EU, and on the provision of mental health services for staff working in the armed forces and emergency services.

HSC(4)-25-12 paper 3

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          Lesley Griffiths AM, Minister for Health and Social Services

David Sissling, Director General, Health Social Services and Children

Dr Chris Jones, Medical Director, NHS Wales

3.1 The Chair welcomed the Minister and her officials to the meeting.  Members questioned the Minister.

3.2 The Minister agreed to provide the following additional information as requested by the Committee:

·         Examples of any district general hospitals in the UK where acute services are not provided;

·         A copy of the independent assessment of the public engagement exercise carried out by Hywel Dda Health Board as part of its reconfiguration plans.  

HSC(4)-07-12 paper 4

3.1 The Committee noted the letter from the Minister for Health and Social Services.

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          Lesley Griffiths AM, Minister for Health and Social Services

Dr Chris Jones, Medical Director NHS Wales

David Sissling, Director General for Health and Social Services, Welsh Government 

Break 10.30 – 10.40

2.1 The Minister for Health and Social Services and officials responded to questions from members of the Committee.

2.2 The Minister agreed to provide additional information as requested by the Committee on: the number of vacant doctor posts in Wales and their grade; the criteria that will be used to measure the success of the upcoming campaign to recruit doctors to Wales; and the number of health visitors required to double the number of those benefiting from the Flying Start Programme.

2.3 The Minister agreed to update the Committee on discussions with the UK Government on the regulation of private cosmetic surgery providers and to provide updates on wheelchair services and support for armed forces veterans in Wales.

Lesley Griffiths, Minister for Health and Social Services
Tony Jewell - Chief Medical Officer
Chris Jones - Medical Director for NHS Wales and Deputy Chief Medical Officer

3.1 The Chair welcomed the Minister to the meeting. Members questioned the Minister.

3.2 The Minister agreed to provide further information on:

-        Contradictory comments made by the Royal College of Midwives about midwife numbers in Wales;

-        Where recruitment problems in neonatal services exist;

-        The number of mother and baby beds available for women suffering with post-natal depression;

-        Female genital mutilation;

-        An evaluation of the effectiveness of the MEND programme in Wales.

3.3 The Chair agreed to write to the Minister with questions not reached at the meeting.

Lesley Griffiths, Minister for Health and Social Services

Gwenda Thomas, Deputy Minister for Children and Social Services

David Sissling, Director General for Health and Social Services

Rob Pickford, Director of Social Services Wales

4.1 The Chair welcomed Lesley Griffiths AM, Minister for Health and Social Services and Gwenda Thomas AM, Deputy Minister for Children and Social Services.

4.2 The Ministers outlined their priorities for the health and social services agenda and answered questions from Members on these priorities.

4.3 The Committee accepted the Deputy Minister’s offer of a briefing on issues relating to residential care from the Director of Social Services.

4.4 The Chair thanked the Minister and Deputy Minister for their attendance.