Written Questions tabled on 11/03/2019 for answer on 18/03/2019
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.
First Minister
Will the First Minister consider making it a statutory requirement for volunteers working with children and young people to undergo DBS checks?
Criminal records, including disclosure and barring are a reserved matter.
Statutory requirements already exist in England and Wales for volunteers who undertake a regulated activity with children on a regular basis to have a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Additionally, there are statutory requirements that necessitate a DBS certificate in regulated services areas such as care home services for children and child-minding, regardless of the regularity of the days these persons volunteer and regardless of whether or not they are supervised. It is not clear that a requirement on all volunteers would be proportionate in light of what is currently provided in the legislative framework.
Minister for Health and Social Services
What steps is the Welsh Government taking to ensure interim access to life-saving cystic fibrosis medicines whilst due processes are being followed?
A clinician may make an Individual Patient Funding Request (IPFR) to treat a patient with a cystic fibrosis medicine which is not routinely available. The IPFR process allows interim access whilst due processes are being followed.
Following the statement issued on 1 March, does the Minister have any meetings scheduled with Vertex Pharmaceuticals to ensure that processes are followed for the submission of the cystic fibrosis medicines Orkambi and Symkevi to the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group?
I do not have any meetings scheduled with Vertex Pharmaceuticals. It is for Vertex Pharmaceuticals to fulfil the commitment they made in 2017 to engage with the appraisal process carried out by the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group.
It would be highly unusual and not appropriate for Ministers to meet pharmaceutical companies who wish the NHS to supply their products instead of engaging with the well established and transparent appraisal process. Calling for a meeting with a Minister cannot be used to circumvent a proper objective appraisal of the clinical effectiveness and value of treatment options for our NHS to provide for the people of Wales.
Will the Minister confirm what the most up to date research available to Welsh Government is regarding electromagnetic field sensitivity and electromagnetic hypersensitivity and, in light of the next generation of 5G, how the Welsh Government has considered this research?
The Welsh Government is advised by Public Health England’s Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (PHE-CRCE) in relation to the protection of communities from radiation hazards, which includes electromagnetic radiation produced by various technologies such as 5G. The Welsh Government retains the services of PHE-CRCE in an advisory capacity because of its level of expertise and breadth of remit, and because it gives greater weight to documents that use rigorous review processes and base its advice on the entire range of scientific information available.
PHE-CRCE’s main advice in relation to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) is that the guidelines from the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) on limiting exposures to EMFs should be adopted, and that there is no consistent evidence that exposures below these guidelines result in adverse health effects for the general population. PHE-CRCE considers that on the basis of current scientific information, exposures from mobile phones, wi-fi and related technologies satisfy international guidelines and there is no consistent evidence of health effects from radiofrequency exposures below guideline levels. They concur with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “backgrounder” document on Electrical Sensitivity (EHS) that ‘EHS has no clear diagnostic criteria and there is no scientific basis to link EHS symptoms to EMF exposure. Further, EHS is not a medical diagnosis, nor is it clear that it represents a single medical problem’.
PHE-CRCE keeps emerging scientific studies worldwide under review. PHE-CRCE publishes comprehensive reviews of the scientific evidence relevant to radio wave exposures and health from time to time and is committed to keeping its advice under review and to updating its advice should new evidence dictate that is necessary. Should its position change in future, it will advise the Welsh Government accordingly.
PHE-CRCE has provided the Welsh Government with its position statement on 5G technology and its fact sheet on EMFs, (which includes links to the WHO’s ‘backgrounder’ document quoted above) which are attached.
Does the Welsh Government assess new scientific evidence and case law regarding electromagnetic field sensitivity and electromagnetic hypersensitivity, and if not, on whom does the responsibility for doing so fall?
The Welsh Government is advised by Public Health England’s Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (PHE-CRCE) in relation to the protection of communities from radiation hazards, which includes electromagnetic radiation produced by various technologies such as 5G. The Welsh Government retains the services of PHE-CRCE in an advisory capacity because of its level of expertise and breadth of remit, and because it gives greater weight to documents that use rigorous review processes and base its advice on the entire range of scientific information available.
PHE-CRCE’s main advice in relation to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) is that the guidelines from the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) on limiting exposures to EMFs should be adopted, and that there is no consistent evidence that exposures below these guidelines result in adverse health effects for the general population. PHE-CRCE considers that on the basis of current scientific information, exposures from mobile phones, wi-fi and related technologies satisfy international guidelines and there is no consistent evidence of health effects from radiofrequency exposures below guideline levels. They concur with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “backgrounder” document on Electrical Sensitivity (EHS) that ‘EHS has no clear diagnostic criteria and there is no scientific basis to link EHS symptoms to EMF exposure. Further, EHS is not a medical diagnosis, nor is it clear that it represents a single medical problem’.
PHE-CRCE keeps emerging scientific studies worldwide under review. PHE-CRCE publishes comprehensive reviews of the scientific evidence relevant to radio wave exposures and health from time to time and is committed to keeping its advice under review and to updating its advice should new evidence dictate that is necessary. Should its position change in future, it will advise the Welsh Government accordingly.
PHE-CRCE has provided the Welsh Government with its position statement on 5G technology and its fact sheet on EMFs, (which includes links to the WHO’s ‘backgrounder’ document quoted above) which are attached.
What is the government doing to tackle emissions from the NHS in Wales and to support health boards to develop plans for clean air hospitals?
The Welsh Government’s ambition is for the public sector to be carbon neutral by 2030. As the largest public sector organisation, NHS Wales has a key role to play in taking actions to achieve this target.
Officials are working with NHS organisations and other key stakeholders to develop an action plan that will help reduce emissions for building use/energy, travel and procurement which are the main source of emissions from NHS Wales.
The Welsh Government, supported by Public Health Wales, issued guidance to reduce outdoor air pollution for the NHS in Wales (see https://gov.wales/topics/health/publications/health/guidance/air/?lang=en). This guidance is intended to inform and facilitate collaborative action to tackle existing air pollution problems and prevent new ones occurring.
Air pollution is a significant environmental determinant of health and continued local efforts can ensure the NHS in Wales makes a valuable contribution to reducing air pollution and population impacts.
Recognising there is more to do, work is underway to prepare for Clean Air Day on 20th June 2019. The Welsh Government is supporting the Clean Air Day initiative and is currently looking at actions that can be taken to reach audiences across Wales on Clean Air Day 2019 and beyond. The Welsh Government encourages individuals, employers and organisations to take part in Clean Air Day, including public bodies such as NHS Wales. The suite of measures set out in the Clean Air Hospital framework, recently issued by Global Action Plan, provides a practical guide that Welsh health boards can use when developing plans to participate in Clean Air Day and plans to tackle air pollution more broadly.