5. Will the First Minister make a statement on the provision of healthcare services for children and young people in South Wales East? OQ61239

The Welsh Government is committed to ensuring high-quality healthcare provision for children and young people in Wales. A comprehensive range of policies and programmes, implemented across the Government, plays a pivotal role in improving health outcomes and promoting child health and well-being for children right across Wales.

Thank you so much for that response. I was recently contacted by a constituent with a plea for help regarding a heartbreaking case. Three-year-old Luna from Chepstow has recently been diagnosed with a rare and life-limiting condition known as MPS VI. Her specialist doctor and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board recommended enzyme replacement therapy as the most viable treatment option to prolong life and maintain a good standard of living. Whilst a funding request for the treatment was initially deemed not cost-effective by the relevant authorities, I was delighted to learn that, at the end of last week, Luna's family officially received approval that ERT will be provided to her through NHS Wales. They are of course absolutely over the moon; however, this does not come without an official appeal against the authority's decisions by Luna's doctor and her family having to campaign for Luna to receive this treatment at an incredibly stressful time. Whilst speaking with campaigners, I discovered differences in treatment for different strains of the condition. The Welsh Government have previously given approval for MPS I to IV to be treated with ERT in Wales. However, MPS V and VI are not as yet officially covered. So, First Minister, can you commit today that the Welsh Government will look into future options for expanding ERT treatment for MPS V and VI as a first point of call, so future families that are going through this do not have to campaign for treatment for their loved ones? Thank you.

I don't think I can at First Minister's questions give commitments on individual conditions and individual treatments. I do, though, recognise the Member's right to raise matters on behalf of her constituents. What I'd ask is that she would write to the Cabinet Secretary for health with the details, so we can understand if there are policy issues to address.

At the start of my time as a Member some time ago in 2011, we were still having debates in this place about individual patient funding requests for treatment, and how consistent those were across the country. It's the reason why, during my tenure as the health Minister, we introduced the new treatment fund that is still making a difference in making sure that new evidence-based treatments are available on a more consistent basis, and, crucially, on a more rapid basis across NHS Wales.

I can't tell from the information the Member has given, and nor could I realistically, whether this is an issue that falls within an individual patient request or whether it's something that could be covered by our approach to ensuring that evidence-based treatments are available. That's why I'd ask her to write to the Cabinet Secretary for health so we can get a properly considered response to her and indeed any other families who may be in the same position.