Health Care and Support in Rhondda

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care – in the Senedd at 3:10 pm on 25 March 2026.

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Photo of Buffy Williams Buffy Williams Labour 3:10, 25 March 2026

Health visitors are a lifeline, health visitors like Gemma and Joanne in Rhondda. They're often the first person families turn to when they are worried, struggling or just need reassurance. They understand the pressures people are facing and step in early before small worries become bigger problems. In communities like Rhondda, that support matters. When health visitors are not there, families feel that loss, and so do the wider services that depend on their work. That's why I continue to support their decision to take strike action. No-one takes the step of striking lightly, especially in a role that is so rooted in care and commitment to others. Residents in Rhondda want to know that everything possible is being done, not only to restore the essential support for local families, but to ensure health visitors are being valued and paid the rate they deserve. Now, I know the Cabinet Secretary has touched on this issue, but I would be grateful if you could let me know what discussions you've had with Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board regarding this situation, and what support or action you can provide to help bring about a fair and swift resolution.

And I also think I'm asking you your last question—I think I might be right—here today, so I'd like to wish you the very best with whatever you decide to do in the future.

Cabinet

The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.

It is chaired by the prime minister.

The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.

Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.

However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.

War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.

From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.

The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.