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Figures released today show that there were 4.24 million overnight trips to Wales from Great Britain between January and June 2017, an increase of 6.3% on the same period in 2016. The amount of spend during this period has also increased to £724 million pounds an increase of 9.5% compared to January to June 2016. 

In comparison, volume of trips and nights taken in Great Britain between January and June 2017 has slightly fallen compared to the same period in 2016, with 53.09 million trips and 146.89 million nights.  The amount of spend has increased by 3.6% to £10,133 million.

Economy Secretary, Ken Skates, said: 

“These figures for the first half of 2017 are extremely encouraging and I’m delighted that overnight stays from GB visitors are again showing recovery and growth – especially when looking at the GB wide picture – where numbers have fallen.  

“Although market conditions remain challenging we remain on track to achieve 10% growth of the industry by 2020 and the tourism industry is in a strong position, with confidence levels high as we go into the Autumn.  

“Following our successful summer campaign targeting London and South East of England, our Autumn campaign will begin next week which will inspire new high-yield visitors to consider Wales as destination for a legendary autumn weekend.”

Visit Wales’ integrated autumn campaign includes a mixture of TV advertising, digital, press partnerships and extensive out of home advertising in Paddington station.   The campaign will be a showcase the range of things to do and see – and giving one last consumer facing push to the Year of Legends theme as the year draws to a close. 

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The guidance, which has been set out in a Welsh Health Circular (WHC), sets out what Health Boards need to do to care for babies born alive before 24 weeks of gestation, whilst also supporting their families and ensuring they are fully involved in making decisions about their care and treatment. 

The WHC was developed in response to a concern from a member of the public – Emma Jones – that current professional guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) does not state what the NHS should do to care for babies born alive before 24 weeks. This followed the death of her son, Riley, who died after he was born at the age of 22 weeks and 4 days in December 2013.

As a result, the Welsh Government has worked with Emma Jones over the last few years to develop additional guidance that promotes the highest quality, evidence-based and compassionate services for mothers and babies born alive before 24 weeks. 

The guidance states that where the birth of a baby on the threshold of survival is anticipated or occurs, maternity teams should consult the on call neonatal or paediatric team (whenever possible before the baby is born), to ensure that clinical assessments are planned and undertaken. 

Additionally, the family of the baby will be involved in the decision making about ongoing care.  It takes into account the professional advice that is available to clinicians for the care of babies born on the threshold of survival.

Bereavement services are needed by many families, and every Health Board in Wales now has a bereavement midwife lead to promote best practice.

Concerned member of the public and mother, Emma Jones said: 

“My journey for change started at the National Assembly when I presented my signed petition.

“From Riley’s death came a fight for change, which ended in success.”

The Chief Medical Officer for Wales and Medical Director of NHS Wales, Dr Frank Atherton said:

“When a baby is born very early, parents and professionals are faced with difficult and distressing decisions. Whilst medical science has provided many advances in the care of very premature babies, especially those born under 26 weeks of gestation, there are limits to what is possible in terms of survival. 

“Very tiny babies, even when they are born alive, may not be able to be resuscitated because their airways and lungs are too immature and delicate to withstand intubation and ventilation, and their blood vessels too small to administer medicines or fluids. 

“We recognised there was a need for the Welsh Government to develop this additional guidance, because the current professional guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) does not state what the NHS should do to care for babies born alive before 24 weeks.

“We are very grateful to Emma Jones for sharing her painful experiences with us, and for working with us to develop the new guidance, which will help maternity services to support sensitively mothers and families where babies are born on the threshold of survival.”

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The WHQS aims to ensure all homes provided by local authorities and housing associations are safe and secure and offer modern amenities.

The Welsh Government provides £108 million each year to help all social landlords meet the WHQS by 2020. 

The Cabinet Secretary said:

“The Welsh Housing Quality Standard will ensure that more than 220,000 households in Wales have a home that is safe, warm and secure.

“It is also vital to us achieving many of our other goals as a Government including improving the nation’s health and well being. Investment in improving and building homes also has huge potential to create jobs and training opportunities in our communities and help us build a prosperous society.”

So far, expenditure of £702 million has been tracked and 82% of that expenditure has been re-invested in Wales. The investment has also helped over 1407 people into employment or training, and provided the equivalent of 36,983 weeks of training.

“The statistics show our continued investment in our social housing stock is having a significant and far reaching impact. We have seen good progress, helping us towards our target of ensuring all social housing meets our high quality standards by 2020. I congratulate social landlords for their achievements so far, although there is still work to be done. We will continue to work with them to improve their housing stock.”

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The investment will allow the service to purchase:

• 18 Emergency Ambulances
• 67 Non Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS)
• Five specialist Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) vehicles, to replace the existing fleet.

The Welsh Ambulance Service currently has over 700 vehicles in its fleet, which cover an area of more than 8,000 square miles across Wales.

Since 2011, the Welsh Government has invested almost £45m in new ambulance vehicles for the Welsh Ambulance Service.

Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething said: 

“The Welsh Ambulance Service continues to experience a growing demand for its services every year. 

“The £8.2 million investment I’m announcing today will enable the Welsh Ambulance Service to continue upgrading its existing fleet, allowing the service to deliver the best care for people in Wales.

“This will ensure the ambulance service is able to deploy the most appropriate clinician in the most appropriate vehicle, ensuring people receive the quickest response possible.”

Richard Lee, Director of Operations for the Welsh Ambulance Service said: 

“In Wales we’re proud to have some of the most up-to-date and best equipped ambulances to benefit our patients and staff.

“Whether we’re attending emergency calls, taking non-emergency patients to appointments or providing life-saving care at major incidents, it’s vital that we have a modern fleet capable of responding to everyone’s needs.

“We would like to thank the Welsh Government for its continued support as we aim to further improve the services and quality of care we provide for our patients.”

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