00:00Good afternoon, First Minister. I'd like to thank Sean Ed for raising this issue.
00:05There's a really even more shocking statistic, which is that people with learning disabilities in Wales die on average 20 years younger than the general population,
00:14with the most common age of death being just 67.
00:18Nearly 4 in 10 of these deaths are considered avoidable, meaning people could still be alive today if they had received the right care at the right time.
00:28This is nothing short of an outrage and discriminatory.
00:33Despite annual health checks being added to the GP contract last April, a report from Mencap last week shows that over a quarter of people with learning disabilities were not offered a health check in the past year.
00:48Going back to Sean Ed's point, which is about enabling our third sector organisations,
00:53I'd like to talk about the closure of Powis People First, which was last year.
00:58An organisation that advocated on behalf of people with learning disabilities.
01:04Without this vital community effort, health checks risk becoming little more than a tick box.
01:11So what will you do, please, First Minister, to ensure that people across Wales who have learning disabilities receive the annual health checks,
01:20but also have the access to advocacy and community support through third sector organisations and ensure that adults with learning disabilities do not die so young?
01:32Well, we have a very clear plan, the Learning Disability Strategic Action Plan.
01:39This was published in 2022, and I'm very pleased to say that 33 out of the 35 actions have already been completed.
01:48The other two have been adapted or amended as a result of changing priorities as a result of COVID.
01:54And we all read that report of how people with learning disabilities in particular suffered more than others during COVID.
02:03And it's important that we respond to that.
02:05What we'll be doing next is to set out what we're planning to do to respond to that Stolen Lives Wales from Hospitals to Homes report
02:16that has been written by the Learning Disability Ministerial Advisory Group.
02:21They, I'm sure, will have a lot to say about the annual health checks,
02:26and I will make sure that the written statement that is going to be published next week refers to the annual health checks.
02:35Question, Doi, Carolyn Thomas.
02:38Will the First Minister make a statement on the Royal Alexandria Hospital?
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