WALES’ new mental health minister set out plans to improve people’s mental health, pledging to focus on reducing waiting times for support and treatment.

Sarah Murphy, who took office in July, provided an update on the Welsh Government’s draft mental health, suicide and self-harm prevention strategies after public consultations closed.

In a statement to the Senedd on October 8, Ms Murphy said the all-age mental health strategy will ensure joined-up, person-centred and needs-led support.

She told Senedd members: “The key challenges for our NHS services include workforce, digital, data and the estate – and whilst I expect to see a focus on this in the final strategy, I have asked officials to progress work in these areas now.”

The mental health minister said the suicide and self-harm prevention strategy sets out the Welsh Government’s key priority of reducing rates.

Ms Murphy added that consultation responses raised the need to do more to identify and address factors that increase the risks of suicide.

“The feedback was also clear that self-harm needed greater prominence,” she said.

Ms Murphy told the chamber or Siambr: “Across both strategies, it is clear we need to do more to prevent, reduce and provide better support and treatment for substance use, including removing barriers for those with co-occurring mental health conditions.”

She stated the new strategies and delivery plans will be published early in 2025, shaping the direction of travel for the next decade.

Ms Murphy, who has represented Bridgend since 2021, said the ‘111 press 2’ service, which provides mental health support, received more than 100,000 calls in its first year.

In light of world mental health day’s theme of mental health in the workplace on October 10, she added that 3,500 people accessed the government’s in-work support service in 2023/24.

The Conservatives’ Gareth Davies said 15% of workers are estimated to have a mental health condition and it is the fifth most common reason for sickness absence.

The shadow mental health minister warned that the new strategies are “long overdue”.

He said: “We need assurances that there will be a focus on delivery. With previous mental health strategies we have not seen the results … with repeated failures in delivery.”

Mr Davies, who worked in the NHS for more than a decade, including in mental health, called for a focus on suicide “which is higher in Wales than other parts of the UK”.

The Vale of Clwyd Senedd member, an ambassador for Bipolar UK, warned that suicide happens at twice the rate in the most deprived areas compared to the least.

Mabon ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymru’s shadow health secretary, described plans to close the minor injuries unit at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli at night as a damning indictment.

He raised comments from Jen Caton, chief executive of Llanelli Mind, warning the change will harm access to mental health support.

Mr ap Gwynfor said: “There is a great deal more to be done to ensure that the provision of mental health services is proportionate to the needs of our population.”

He told the Senedd the number of mental health beds decreased from more than 2,000 in 2010 to 1,271 this year, “which is the lowest-ever level of capacity”.

Mr ap Gwynfor, who represents Dwyfor Meirionnydd, called for the law on safe staffing levels in the health service to be extended to include mental health nurses.

James Evans raised concerns about a rise in body dysmorphia caused by digitally altered images on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

The Tory MS for Brecon and Radnorshire said young people are increasingly seeking cosmetic surgery, which could damage their mental health in years to come.

Plaid Cymru’s Luke Fletcher warned of a “lost generation” when it comes to mental health, raising concerns about male suicide rates in his South Wales West region.

John Griffiths, who represents Newport East, highlighted plans for a new Welsh Government-funded health and wellbeing Centre in Ringland.

His Labour colleague Jenny Rathbone welcomed more co-production of services, saying: “It’s crucial we don’t just tell people, we actually have to find out what they need and want.”

AN ARTS and Health Creative Prescribing Discovery Programme exploring the potential of creative prescribing to support physical and mental health has delivered promising results in Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB). 

Social prescribing services focus on helping patients with health and social challenges who might feel isolated and require non-clinical support. The programme aimed at creating a nurturing environment for the growth of arts on prescription across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, and Ceredigion. Running from July 2022 to March 2024, over 866 participants took part, including patients, people from communities and healthcare staff and 18 artists. 

Activities ranged from artists working ‘in residence’ within healthcare teams and Creative Prescribing Cafes which served as hubs for discussion and engagement.  

The programme, funded by the Arts Council of Wales, Hywel Dda UHB and Tywi Taf Cluster funding was led by Hywel Dda’s Arts and Health team in partnership with Hywel Dda UHB’s Public Health Team, Public Health Wales, the Social Prescribing Community of Practice, Health Education Improvement Wales, and six arts partners; Span Arts, People Speak Up, Arts4wellbeing, Haul, Arts Care Gofal Celf and Wales Arts Health and Wellbeing Network. 

Kathryn Lambert, Hywel Dda UHB Arts in Health Coordinator, explained the importance of this initiative, saying, “Creative prescribing is a way of connecting people with the arts to help people to better manage their own health and well-being.  

It’s built on the growing evidence base that activities such as singing, dancing, craft or reading a good book boosts our mood, connects us with others, and improves our well-being.  

We’ve been asking what’s needed to better connect people with the arts in their local communities through a series of cafes, residencies and projects.” 

Frank Farrer from Pembrokeshire FRAME spoke about the impact the programme had on addressing mental health challenges: “We’re looking at people that maybe having issues with something that’s been neglected for a long time across the whole of the UK, like mental health issues.  

Even people just feeling really low and depressed, anxious about just stepping outside the doorstep.  Bringing the arts in, teaching the little things or sitting down like we’ve done today, have fun cutting things out, sticking on pieces of paper.  It brings together people who might not necessarily spoken to each other for a while or have never met anybody.” 

The programme also successfully connected professionals across the arts, health, and third sectors, creating new opportunities for collaboration. Di Ford, an artist from Span Arts, described the transformative effect of participation, noting, “By the end of it, it’s like they have a sense of empowerment or achievement that they’ve created something, it builds confidence, and it can build self-esteem and things as well.” 

Dr. Cath Jenkins, GP and Academic Fellow at Swansea University, echoed these sentiments, saying, “We’ve had some really positive feedback from people that they’ve enjoyed, that they’ve had physical benefits, but also that they’ve felt that it’s been good for their mental wellbeing and that they’ve made friends and social links through it.” 

 The programme has been evaluated independently by Hywel Dda UHB’s TriTech Institute and Innovation team. According to the report, health professionals noted an increased awareness and understanding of the benefits of arts in healthcare, with 100% of junior doctors attending training events reporting an increase in their knowledge of the evidence supporting arts in health. Additionally, at the creative connections event, 93% of attendees stated they learned more about arts in health for their clients.

The evaluation also highlighted several key learnings, such as the complexity of implementing creative prescribing, the challenges of data collection, and the need for sustained funding to support future arts and health initiatives.  

Based on these insights, Hywel Dda UHB has outlined four crucial recommendations: to foster cross-sector collaboration across the health board, to develop a health-board-wide pilot arts referral programme, to explore and overcome barriers to effective data capture, and to secure funding for larger-scale research and evaluation activities. 

A video has also been released alongside this report, capturing the essence of the programme and featuring the voices of participants and professionals. This video serves as a powerful testament to the potential of creative prescribing in transforming lives and it can be viewed here.

Read the case study story published on the Wales Arts Health and Wellbeing Knowledge Bank here: https://wahwn.cymru/knowledge-bank/creative-prescribing-discovery-programme-

To know more about Hywel Dda Arts and Health Charter click here: https://hduhb.nhs.wales/arts-and-health-charter/

WELSH researchers have been awarded funding of almost £1.2 million to develop a new detector for tuberculosis in humans and animals that can report a result in one hour.

The technology will be simple enough to be operated by any healthcare worker or veterinarian. It will be more specific and more sensitive than existing methods as well as significantly quicker than other types of tests.

Supported by funding from UKRI, the project brings together experts in tuberculosis, veterinary medicine, microbiology, microwave and photonic engineering, to develop a new solution to this global health problem.

TB is a major cause of suffering and death in humans and animals worldwide and is the second leading infectious killer of humans after COVID-19. There are currently around 10 million recorded human TB infections per year, with a death rate of 1.8 million per year.

The lack of a rapid accurate diagnosis, particularly in poorer nations, often leads to misdiagnoses and ineffective treatment of TB patients.

Professor Glyn Hewinson, Sêr Cymru research chair in the Centre of Excellence for Bovine Tuberculosis at Aberystwyth University, said: “The impact of TB is devastating, so developing a rapid diagnosis method could be truly transformative. Eliminating the human TB epidemic by 2050 is a key UN Sustainable Development Goal, and the World Health Organization highlights the need for more effective rapid diagnostic tests as a critical step. We are looking forward to working with our colleagues in Cardiff to make advances in this important area of research.”

The high prevalence of TB in cattle in parts of the UK has a major effect on both the livelihoods and wellbeing of farmers. The surveillance, diagnostic testing, badger culling and vaccination costs the UK government alone a total of £100 million per year.

Professor Les Baillie, Professor of Microbiology at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Cardiff University, and co-lead on the project said:

“Tuberculosis is a particular problem for farmers in Wales who have seen bovine TB decimate herds across the country. Diagnosis of the early stages of infection is challenging due to the lack of rapid, accurate tests.

“To address this, we are working with colleagues from Aberystwyth University to advance the development of a real-time test capable to detecting the presence of the pathogen in clinical and environmental samples.”

Aberystwyth experts will lead on the development and evaluation of an optical device which will for the first time attempt to solve issues with sample impurities and sensitivities.

Professor Nigel Copner, Head of the Business School and Academic Lead for the Engineering Unit at Aberystwyth University said:

“PCR testing is the gold standard for detecting pathogens but requires special processing for high sensitivity. However, most detection methods struggle with sample impurities.

“Using techniques developed in Cardiff, the photonics team at Aberystwyth University has innovated a method that enables high sensitivity detection directly from on-site samples, without needing time-consuming purification. If successful, this technique could achieve near-PCR sensitivity at the point of sampling, potentially revolutionising pathogen pandemic management.”

Further investment in the project will allow the new technology to be reduced in both size and cost to create a simple, low-cost detector, which will have particular benefit for use in developing countries.

The platform can be easily adapted to detect most other pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2 and MRSA, and could become an important tool to help control the spread of future pandemics.

The project is being funded by the UKRI cross research council responsive mode (CRCRM) pilot scheme, which is supporting new and creative interdisciplinary ideas emerging from the UK’s research community. The project has been awarded £1,199,669 and is one of 36 projects being funded by the £32.4 million UKRI CRCRM scheme.