MS raises concerns in Senedd over provision of mental health services for Welsh mothers and lack of ‘dependable’ data
Concerns over mental health services for mothers before, during, and after childbirth, and a lack of “dependable data” from worth Wales’ health board were raised in Cardiff by Arfon’s MS.
Sian Gwenllian was questioning the quality of pregnancy mental health service provision for north Wales mums during a Senedd plenary debate with the Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing Sarah Murphy, on Tuesday (February 11).
Mrs Gwenllian highlighted updated maternity and childbirth stats, that claimed 32 percent of pregnant women reported having a mental health condition – up on the 12 percent since data collection started 2016.
The new figure was not included in data from two health boards – Betsi Cadwaladr and Cwm Taf Morgannwg and “the reason given for this is that the data are not dependable,” she said.
Quoting from a report “‘mental health data recorded in these two health boards is of low reliability’” she asked if this was “acceptable”.
“It’s shocking to me, bearing in mind that deficient decisions by Betsi Cadwaladr and the Government were made.
“Now we are discovering that there aren’t dependable data held by that health board with regard to mothers’ perinatal mental health.”
Review
She also called for a review of plans to create two beds for Welsh mothers at the Countess of Chester hospital, in England.
“These would be two beds only, in a hospital where the right to speak Welsh will not be honoured, in a location that is very far away from loved ones for a number of families,” she said.
“Now I discover there aren’t dependable or reliable data available. You promised to review this decision,” she said.
The Minister Sarah Murphy agreed. She said: “When it comes to a lack of data, no, it’s not good enough, we are going to change it.” Regarding the Chester unit plan, a review was due at the end of February.
She also noted that Betsi Cadwaladr and Cwm Taf Morgannwg were health boards that had received additional funding to now lead on the electronic mental health records.
“Betsi is going first; I’ve met with the team. They’re doing very well on that, and they’re pushing forward,” whilst Cwm Taf Morgannwg were also “working alongside”.
“We recognised that there was a real urgency to this…but really good progress is being made,” she added.
In answer to the MS’s queries if the Chester provision was enough beds or in north Wales, the minister said: “I went back to the joint commissioning committee and I insisted, and they agreed to do another extremely thorough full review, so that I can see all of their findings before we make a decision for the future.
“So, as you know, that’s going to be coming towards the end of February.”
She had also met with the Betsi team, “and they said to me that, in 2024, there were periods where there were no beds needed, and periods where there were a few beds needed.”
She added: “The Countess of Chester’s mother and baby unit is going to be open imminently, and for women in north Wales who need those beds, and can’t and don’t want to visit Tonna [in Neath] which I completely understand, the likelihood is that we will go ahead and commission those beds, because even if the decision was taken that we would build our own mother and baby unit in north Wales, that will take time and the beds are needed now.”
Digital solution
Fiona Giraud, Director of Midwifery and Women’s Services at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “We have developed a local digital solution business case, which has been approved and plans for implementation are now being progressed. In the absence of a fully digital solution, we are reliant on the collation of data from a number of sources, which can make validation difficult.
“With regards to data pertaining perinatal mental health, there have been some recent improvements which include distinguishing between women with pre-existing mental health conditions and those which are identified during pregnancy. Data is also collected on the number of referrals made to the specialist Perinatal Mental Health Team.
“We have also now implemented the ‘Ask, Assess, Act,’ tool which supports midwives to identify the most appropriate pathway of care, for example signposting to the GP or self-help resources, or referral to the specialist team.
“We are now planning to liaise with both our Informatics and our specialist Perinatal Mental Health Team to explore potential improvements to data collection whilst we await the implementation of a digital solution.”
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