James Evans wants to see improvement in mental health services in Wales.
The Brecon and Radnorshire MS said at the Senedd that people often hear commitments aimed at achieving parity between mental and physical health.
He said it’s referenced in the Government’s new mental health and well-being strategy, but in practice, there are still significant disparities across the system.
Video from Senedd.tv
The Brecon and Radnorshire MS said at the Senedd that people often hear commitments aimed at achieving parity between mental and physical health.
He said it’s referenced in the Government’s new mental health and well-being strategy, but in practice, there are still significant disparities across the system.
Video from Senedd.tv
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00:00I often hear commitments to achieve parity between mental and physical health.
00:04It's referenced in the new mental health and well-being strategy.
00:07But in practice, we are still seeing those significant disparities across the system.
00:12Waiting times for mental health support are often far longer than for physical treatments.
00:17And early intervention is also under-resourced, and many areas still lack accessible local mental health support.
00:24So what we need to hear from you is what concrete, concrete actions is the Welsh Government doing to specifically to ensure the parity of esteem between mental and physical health services.
00:36What we don't need to see is more shiny policy documents or more committees being set up to look at these things.
00:42What we need to see is actual delivery on the ground, helping people in their communities.
00:48Because I don't think that no one should have to wait to have their condition diagnosed or supported just because you cannot see it.
00:56And I'd like to hear what I said.
00:57Concrete actions you are doing to address the disparity between the two issues.
01:03Well, thanks very much.
01:05This is an area that we take very seriously.
01:08The fact that we published a refreshed, a new plan, a new strategy, that there's a delivery program that runs alongside it,
01:18demonstrate how seriously we take this.
01:21The fact that we have a 1112 service in Wales that doesn't exist in other parts of the United Kingdom.
01:27Of course, we've got a long way to go.
01:30But I really think it's important that people recognise that actually we have made some significant strides already in relation to mental health.
01:40So when you look at the figures, for the under-18s, 92% of them are seen within 28 days.
01:53And when it comes to from assessment to intervention, for over-18s, 92% of them have an actual intervention within 28 days.
02:07So this is massive progress compared to where we were.
02:14And I really think it's important that we underline that.
02:17There was a stage a few years ago where people had to wait for years to get the support.
02:24That is not the case anymore.
02:27Things have improved dramatically.
02:30We've always got more work to do.
02:33But I really think that we've started to shift the dial on this important matter that really affects a huge number of people in Wales.
02:45Question 6, Caroline Thomas.