4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Yes, we've seen huge improvement in that aspect, and I will give a shout out in terms of the waiting well. The RPBs are really, really fantastic in this space. I'm actually due to have a report today from my neurodivergent officials team around this, about…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
We still have three of the health boards at the moment that are just over the three years. So, there are no over four years. So, when I first came into this role, the First Minister said to me that this was one of my key delivery targets that I had to reach…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Yes, like I said, I think—. Well, to be honest, I will need to see what comes through in the reports from February. I don't want to be too—. I don't want to make assumptions until I see that. But, as I said, if I refer back to the switch, the barriers there…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Thank you. I was actually on the Health and Social Care Committee when 'Sort the Switch', the Mind Cymru report, came out, and I had the opportunity, along with members of this committee, to sit down and meet with the young people who had fed into that, and…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Sorry.
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Yes, of course. The Royal College of Psychiatrists are finalising the report, and we expect that in the next few weeks, and then I will absolutely share a copy with the committee as soon as that's available. To support this transition, though, I've also…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
No, these will be demonstrators. So, it will be similar to what we're doing in women's health, to be honest. It's similar in terms of, like, it's pathfinders, it's seeing what works, there'll be an evaluation, there'll be a sharing of best practice. So, this…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Thank you. So, again, just to clarify, I guess, what we mean by open-access mental health. This means that people can self-refer, so access is absolutely key; you don't have those lengthy waiting lists, you don't necessarily have to have a GP referral, and…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Yes, absolutely. I'm really proud to say that we are now able to provide in-patient care for mothers from north Wales much closer to their homes. I'm also really pleased that this was, obviously, a joint commissioning with NHS England. I have not been able…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Well, as I said, this would not have been out of my role to undertake. This would have been for NHS performance and improvement, who have assured me that that was absolutely done.
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Thank you. Yes, of course, I did receive and respond to the letters from the committee, as well as letters that came directly from health boards and perinatal groups as well. So, just to be clear, this is not something that I have undertaken or was my…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Yes, I think, again, if I come back to the mental health and well-being strategy, the purpose of it is that—. We have this single session, open-access model, so it means that health boards now will have a single point of referral, so that you don't have to…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Yes, absolutely. So, in terms of the ethos that we have around perinatal mental health, the whole focus, really, should be on it being in the community. I obviously have to kind of oversee and work on, sometimes, women and babies needing to be able to have…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Yes, of course. I was just saying that this has been part of the process of rolling out the new mental health and well-being strategy. It means that NHS Performance and Improvement have been allocated money now to be able to ensure that everything is…
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Right.
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
As you'll know, we have—
4 March 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Thank you very much for that question. So, firstly, let me just set out that we have made changes, and part of that has come along, then, with the £2.2 million in the strategic programme for mental health, which is part of what NHS Performance and Improvement…
24 February 2026 , Plenary
The Food Supplements (Magnesium L-threonate monohydrate) (Wales) Regulations 2026
Thank you very much, Llywydd. This afternoon, I am asking the Senedd to approve the Food Supplements (Magnesium L-threonate monohydrate) (Wales) Regulations 2026. These regulations would approve the use of magnesium L-threonate monohydrate for use in food…
4 February 2026 , Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Minister for Children and Social Care and Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
This comes down to the electronic health record, and I wouldn't say that we're, in Wales, particularly behind. I think that every nation at the moment is trying to get their electronic health record up and running, as they are across Europe as well. So, at…
4 February 2026 , Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Minister for Children and Social Care and Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Yes, so Connecting Care is a big, very important project, which, when it's completed, will have the 22 local authorities on this system being able to see the data for everybody in the social care sector, and then also the link-up then with the health boards…
4 February 2026 , Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Minister for Children and Social Care and Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
It's a huge priority. We don't, in Wales, have the same access to data for adult services now, but it's much better for children and young people. So, this is something that has to be rectified really quickly. So, you'll see that, in the strategy, we do have…
4 February 2026 , Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Minister for Children and Social Care and Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
I think that we've seen a huge amount because of two areas: first of all, the sanctuary model, which has been piloted, and that has, obviously, been for 11 to 18-year-olds. We've had some wonderful projects in that area. So, young people now can go in; they…
4 February 2026 , Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Minister for Children and Social Care and Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Thank you. Well, I'm biased when I say that I thought that was an excellent committee report on mental health inequalities, because I was a member of the health committee when we did it. [Laughter.] I have to say, as well, I'm glad that I did it and I was…
4 February 2026 , Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Minister for Children and Social Care and Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
I'm Sarah Murphy. I'm the Minister for Mental Health and Well-being.
3 February 2026 , Plenary
& 7. The Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Act 2018 (Continuation) Regulations 2026 and The Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Minimum Unit Price) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
Thank you very much. Just to reiterate—and I thank everybody for their comments today—the primary focus of minimum unit pricing is to reduce alcohol-related harm at a population level, and we do recognise the importance of understanding its impact on all…
