English: It's a pleasure to take part in this important debate on child health, and I just want to take a few moments, if I can, just to highlight how important it is to get health messages home to children and to parents, and indeed to teaching professionals in our schools. One of the tools that, traditionally, has been used to deliver those important messages has been our school nursing workforce, and I had the pleasure of visiting an excellent school nursing service in Bryntirion Comprehensive in Bridgend recently with Suzy Davies, my colleague, where we heard first hand from the school nurse there, who's actually employed by the school rather than the health board, about the sorts of services that she is delivering, and the way in which she is able to engage with the school population as a result of the way that she is employed by that particular school. Now, we know that the school nursing framework in Wales is currently under review, and I know that the Government are hoping to refresh that within the next few months, and I very much welcome that, but I wonder whether the arrangements within that new school nursing framework will be sufficient to take advantage of the opportunities that school nursing really affords. We've got around 220 or so school nurses in Wales - every secondary school has a named school nurse available to it - but those individual school nurses are not full-time dedicated to an individual secondary school. As a result of that, the sort of trust and confidence that young people very often need in order to establish a relationship with the school nurse allocated to their school simply isn't there. That's in stark contrast to the model that I saw at Ysgol Bryntirion, where the nurse there, Judith, was available every single day of the week for the pupils and the staff, and she was there, engaging, giving sort of occupational health advice, giving safeguarding advice to members of the professional staff team and, in addition to that, giving very important public health messages to those children in that school, and supporting them through what have often been very difficult times in their lives. I think the one big thing that struck me was that she's been able to establish a relationship not just with the school, but with the wider community that that school actually serves - the wider school family. As a result of those relationships, they've seen staff absence rates massively fall, they've seen school attendance rates amongst the learners rapidly increase, they've seen pupils not going home when they're unwell, but actually being able to manage their conditions within the school day in a way that would not have been possible had she not been available there. I appreciate that the wider school nursing service that is available across Wales in each individual health board area has a number of other important functions to undertake: things like immunisations, and oral and dental healthcare programmes, which are a core part of their work. But the one thing that our current school nursing service doesn't have very often is sufficient time to be able to invest in individual school sites so that they can develop the sorts of relationships that I saw, which had been cultivated over the years by Judith with Ysgol Bryntirion. Of course, it's not just our secondary schools that need access to school nurses. We also need to ensure that our primary schools have access to trusted school nurses as well, and, indeed, I'd like to see them be more widely available in our FE colleges and our universities, because, of course, we all know that they are also places where young people and staff need support from health professionals who can be available and on hand when they need them. In terms of public health, why not get the school nurses involved in delivering lessons on nutrition, on physical activity, on substance misuse? We're facing an epidemic, at the moment, of mental health and well-being-related problems, as Suzy Davies quite rightly said a few moments ago. Nipping these things in the bud could be something that our school nurses might be able to do, if they were properly equipped and properly trained to be able to do so. So, I want to extol the virtues of school nursing and encourage the Government, in its response today, to perhaps lift the lid a little bit more on what is being done to refresh that school nursing framework and perhaps tell us a little bit more about where things are currently at in terms of the time frame for delivering on the promise to refresh it. Thank you.
Welsh: Mae'n bleser cael cymryd rhan yn y ddadl bwysig hon ar iechyd plant, ac roeddwn eisiau rhoi ychydig o amser, os caf, i dynnu sylw at ba mor bwysig yw hi i gyfleu negeseuon iechyd i blant ac i rieni, ac yn wir i addysgwyr proffesiynol yn ein hysgolion. Un o'r arfau a ddefnyddiwyd yn draddodiadol i gyflwyno'r negeseuon pwysig hyn oedd ein gweithlu nyrsio ysgolion, a chefais y pleser o ymweld â gwasanaeth nyrsio ysgolion rhagorol yn Ysgol Gyfun Bryntirion ym Mhen-y-bont ar Ogwr yn ddiweddar gyda Suzy Davies, fy nghyd-Aelod, lle y clywsom o lygad y ffynnon gan nyrs yr ysgol yno, sy'n cael ei chyflogi gan yr ysgol mewn gwirionedd yn hytrach na'r bwrdd iechyd, am y mathau o wasanaethau y mae'n eu darparu, a'r ffordd y mae hi'n gallu ymgysylltu â'r boblogaeth ysgol o ganlyniad i'r ffordd y caiff ei chyflogi gan yr ysgol honno. Nawr, gwyddom fod y fframwaith nyrsio ysgolion yng Nghymru yn cael ei adolygu ar hyn o bryd, ac rwy'n gwybod bod y Llywodraeth yn gobeithio ei adnewyddu yn ystod yr ychydig fisoedd nesaf, ac rwy'n croesawu hynny'n fawr iawn, ond tybed a fydd y trefniadau yn y fframwaith nyrsio ysgolion newydd honno'n ddigon i fanteisio ar y cyfleoedd y mae nyrsio ysgolion yn eu cynnig mewn gwirionedd. Mae gennym oddeutu 220 o nyrsys ysgol yng Nghymru - mae gan bob ysgol uwchradd nyrs ysgol a enwir ar gael iddynt - ond nid yw'r nyrsys ysgol unigol hynny'n gweithio'n llawnamser mewn ysgol uwchradd unigol. O ganlyniad i hynny, mae'r math o ymddiriedaeth a hyder y mae pobl ifanc yn aml iawn eu hangen er mwyn sefydlu perthynas gyda'r nyrs benodol yn eu hysgol ar goll. Mae hynny'n gwrthgyferbynnu'n llwyr â'r model a welais yn Ysgol Bryntirion, lle y mae'r nyrs yno, Judith, ar gael bob dydd o'r wythnos ar gyfer y disgyblion a'r staff, ac roedd hi yno, yn ymgysylltu, yn rhoi rhyw fath o gyngor iechyd galwedigaethol, yn rhoi cyngor ar ddiogelu i aelodau o'r tîm staff proffesiynol ac yn ychwanegol at hynny, yn rhoi negeseuon iechyd cyhoeddus pwysig iawn i'r plant yn yr ysgol, ac yn eu cefnogi drwy'r hyn sy'n aml wedi bod yn gyfnod anodd iawn yn eu bywydau. Rwy'n meddwl mai'r un peth mawr a'm trawodd oedd ei bod hi wedi gallu sefydlu perthynas nid yn unig gyda'r ysgol, ond gyda'r gymuned ehangach y mae'r ysgol yn ei gwasanaethu mewn gwirionedd - teulu ehangach yr ysgol. O ganlyniad i'r cysylltiadau hynny, maent wedi gweld cyfraddau absenoldeb staff yn disgyn yn aruthrol, maent wedi gweld cyfraddau presenoldeb ysgol ymhlith y dysgwyr yn cynyddu'n gyflym, maent wedi gweld disgyblion yn gallu rheoli eu cyflwr o fewn y diwrnod ysgol heb fynd adref pan fyddant yn sâl, mewn ffordd na fyddai wedi bod yn bosibl oni bai ei bod hi ar gael yno. Rwy'n sylweddoli bod gan y gwasanaeth nyrsio ysgolion ehangach sydd ar gael ar draws Cymru ym mhob ardal bwrdd iechyd unigol nifer o swyddogaethau pwysig eraill i'w cyflawni: pethau fel brechiadau, a rhaglenni gofal iechyd y geg a deintyddol, sy'n rhan greiddiol o'u gwaith. Ond yr un peth nad oes gan ein gwasanaeth nyrsio ysgolion presennol yn aml iawn yw digon o amser i allu ei fuddsoddi ar safleoedd ysgolion unigol fel y gallant ddatblygu'r mathau o berthnasoedd a welais, a oedd wedi'u meithrin dros y blynyddoedd gan Judith gydag Ysgol Bryntirion. Wrth gwrs, nid ein hysgolion uwchradd yn unig sydd angen mynediad at nyrsys ysgol. Mae angen i ni hefyd sicrhau bod ein hysgolion cynradd yn cael mynediad at nyrsys ysgol dibynadwy hefyd, ac yn wir, hoffwn eu gweld ar gael yn fwy eang yn ein colegau addysg bellach a'n prifysgolion, oherwydd, wrth gwrs, gŵyr pawb ohonom eu bod hwy hefyd yn fannau lle y mae pobl ifanc a staff angen cymorth gan weithwyr iechyd proffesiynol a all fod ar gael ac wrth law pan fyddant eu hangen. O ran iechyd y cyhoedd, beth am gael y nyrsys ysgol yn rhan o'r gwaith o gyflwyno gwersi ar faeth, ar weithgarwch corfforol, ar gamddefnyddio sylweddau? Rydym yn wynebu epidemig ar hyn o bryd o broblemau iechyd meddwl a phroblemau sy'n gysylltiedig â lles, fel y dywedodd Suzy Davies yn ddigon cywir ychydig funudau'n ôl. Gallai ymdrin â'r rhain cyn iddynt dyfu'n broblemau mwy fod yn rhywbeth y gallai ein nyrsys ysgol ei wneud, os ydynt wedi cael eu paratoi a'u hyfforddi'n briodol i allu gwneud hynny. Felly, rwyf am ganmol rhinweddau nyrsys ysgol ac annog y Llywodraeth, wrth ymateb heddiw, i godi ychydig mwy ar y caead efallai ar yr hyn sy'n cael ei wneud i adnewyddu'r fframwaith nyrsio ysgolion a dweud ychydig bach mwy wrthym o bosibl ynglŷn â'r sefyllfa ar hyn o bryd o ran yr amserlen ar gyfer cyflawni'r addewid i'w adnewyddu. Diolch.