(Title Image: The Planner)
Earlier this afternoon, MSs got their first opportunity to question the recently-appointed Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing & Welsh Language, Eluned Morgan (Lab, Mid & West Wales)
Minister’s role is to “speed up” the mental health system
Shadow Health Minister, Andrew RT Davies MS (Con, South Wales Central), wondered what a new minister could actually achieve in the five/six months left before the next Senedd election?
That aside, he questioned the Minister on calls for mental health laws to be changed regarding accommodation used for sectioning and assessment, as well as giving mental health triage teams the right to access record which may indicate if someone has attempted suicide before.
The Minister clarified that her main aim in her new position was to speed up the implementation of the Welsh Government’s “Together for Mental Health” strategy given the negative mental health impact of the pandemic. However, she didn’t know whether it was within the realms of her new responsibilities to change the law as requested.
“I will make a commitment to look into that particular issue, to see whether there is indeed an anomaly and whether there is anything we can do in Wales to address that issue. But….it may be that this is UK legislation, in which case….we can look to whether we want to pursue that with the UK Government.”
– Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing & Welsh Language, Eluned Morgan
Minister expressed concern that people may be turned away from mental health treatment because it’s deemed “not serious enough”
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS (Plaid, Ynys Môn) asked several questions, including about mooted cuts to the Time to Change mental health programme, the mental health impact of economic stress brought about by lockdown and also people being turned away when seeking mental health help.
“Many committee reports over the years have suggested that one of the main problems with mental health services is that people are often turned away because they are not considered to be in sufficient difficulty, and then those problems do get worse. Does the Minister acknowledge that, and how does she intend to change the way we deal with that and to ensure earlier intervention?”
– Rhun ap Iorwerth MS
The Minister hoped she would be able to continue with the Time to Change programme in Wales.
Regarding the latter question, she was concerned that anyone willingly seeking out mental health support and treatment would be turned away regardless of how “serious” their condition may be. What she didn’t want to happen was to force a situation where people are medicalised, when they can receive more timely help “at a lower level” in the healthcare system, such as GPs.
