Directions and guidance are in place in hospitals for patients, staff and visitors in relation to healthy eating. These include mandatory food and fluid nutrition standards for patients, mandatory healthy food and drink vending standards and guidance for food and drink served to staff and visitors.

Healthy lifestyles are key to improving health and well-being and reducing the risk of a range of preventable diseases. ‘Taking Wales Forward’ commits us to embed healthy living throughout our programmes and our healthy and active strategy will outline further measures to improve health and well-being.

My priorities for the NHS in south-east Wales, as in the rest of Wales, are to improve health outcomes, access to services, patient experience, prevent poor health and reduce health inequalities.

The local health board are working hard to make the necessary improvements to mental health services across north Wales. A new mental health strategy for north Wales was agreed by their board on 20 April and has been endorsed by their six local authority partners.

I expect all patients to be seen in order of clinical priority and within Welsh waiting times targets. Improvements have been seen over the last 12 months and I expect to see further improvements going forward.