English: Thank you very much, Chair. This brief debate links very neatly with the debate that we've just had - I'll explain more about that in a few moments. But, it's a debate on a very specific issue that is of great concern to us on these benches, and I hope of concern to us as a Senedd, and to far too many of our constituents too. We are talking here about the high number of patients from Wales who are sent to mental health units that are a long distance from their homes, very often over the border in England. And there are grave concerns about the principle of sending people a long way from home. There are specific concerns about the quality of the care that is provided in many of these units. There is an example here: Wayne Erasmus claims that he has not been able to speak to or see his autistic son for over three years. His son is living in a unit that has been the subject of a shocking report by the Care Quality Commission, a unit that has seen the use of physical restraint increasing. Another patient from Wales with anorexia is in the unit. She is allowed only three phone calls of 10 minutes per week with her relatives at home, and there are restrictions on what they can discuss during those calls. Does that sound acceptable to you? There are a number of similar cases that have arisen. But even if there weren't a concern about the quality of the care provided, there is a very important point of principle about the impact on the well-being of a patient of being many hours and many hundreds of miles away from home, not being able to communicate with relatives, often not knowing how long they will be there, and certainly feeling very isolated from those care networks that are so important to people. I remember a constituent telling me how he was taken from his home in the middle of the night, whilst he was facing an acute mental health episode, and taken in a vehicle to the outskirts of London, and how that had had such a detrimental impact on the mental angst that he was already suffering at that time. That can't be acceptable under any circumstances. It would be one thing if these kinds of cases were rare, but they're not. Hafal, a group doing laudable work in mental health, mention a survey over a period where they couldn't fill the beds that they had in their unit in Pontardawe, where 30 per cent of the 1,000 people who were part of the study were placed in hospitals in England. There is no sense to that. In linking it back to our previous debate, it's important to highlight the fact that Wales doesn't have an eating disorder residential unit. It was a pleasure to have a conversation with a young woman who's a constituent of mine in the meeting today. It was wonderful to speak to Sara about her experiences, and it was heartbreaking, hearing about Sara's experiences. She had to travel a very long way from home to England in order to access treatment, and she was only a teenager at the time. That's unacceptable. Let's also consider the closure of the mother and baby unit in Cardiff for mothers suffering postpartum psychosis - a decision that did serious damage, as was clearly stated in the committee's inquiry here in the Senedd. Here's a quote from the Royal College of Psychiatrists:
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Cadeirydd. Mae'r ddadl fer yma rŵan yn plethu mewn i'r ddadl rydym ni newydd ei chael - mi wnaf i egluro mwy am hynny am y man. Ond, dadl ydy hi ynglŷn â rhywbeth penodol iawn sydd o bryder mawr i ni ar y meinciau yma, dwi'n gobeithio i ni fel Senedd, ac i lawer gormod o'n hetholwyr ni. Sôn ydym ni am y nifer uchel o gleifion o Gymru sy'n cael eu hanfon i unedau iechyd meddwl ymhell, bell o gartref, yn aml iawn dros y ffin yn Lloegr. Ac mae yna bryderon difrifol ynglŷn â'r egwyddor sydd ynghlwm â gyrru pobl ymhell o gartref. Mae yna bryderon penodol ynglŷn â safon y gofal sy'n cael ei ddarparu i lawer ohonyn nhw. Mae enghraifft yn y fan hyn: Wayne Erasmus yn honni ei fod o ddim hyd yn oed wedi gallu siarad efo na gweld ei fab awtistig ers dros dair blynedd. Mae ei fab o'n byw mewn uned sydd wedi bod yn destun adroddiad syfrdanol gan y Comisiwn Ansawdd Gofal, uned sydd wedi gweld ataliaeth gorfforol yn cynyddu. Mae claf arall o Gymru efo anorecsia yn yr uned. Dim ond tair galwad ffôn 10 munud yr wythnos sy'n cael eu caniatáu iddi hi efo'i pherthnasau gartref, a hynny efo cyfyngiadau ar yr hyn maen nhw'n cael siarad amdano fo. Ydy hynny'n swnio'n dderbyniol i chi? Mae yna lawer iawn o achosion tebyg wedi bod. Ond hyd yn oed pe na bai yna bryder am safon ac ansawdd y gofal, mae yna bwynt pwysig iawn o egwyddor ynglŷn â'r effaith ar les claf o fod oriau a channoedd o filltiroedd i ffwrdd o gartref, yn methu siarad efo'u perthnasau o bosib, yn aml ddim yn gwybod pa mor hir fyddan nhw yna, ac yn sicr yn teimlo'n bell iawn o'r rhwydweithiau gofal yna sydd mor bwysig i bobl. Dwi'n cofio etholwr yn dweud wrthyf fi sut y cafodd o ei gludo o'i gartref yng nghanol nos, ag yntau yn wynebu problem iechyd meddwl aciwt, a'i gludo mewn cerbyd i gyffiniau Llundain, a sut yr oedd hynny wedi gwaethygu cymaint yr angst meddyliol yr oedd o'n mynd drwyddo fo ar y pryd. Gall hynny ddim bod yn dderbyniol o dan unrhyw amgylchiadau. Mi fyddai'n un peth pe bai'r math yma o achosion yn rhai prin, ond dydy o ddim - dydy'r rhain ddim yn achosion prin. Mae Hafal, grŵp sy'n gwneud gwaith mor dda ym maes iechyd meddwl, yn sôn am arolwg o gyfnod lle nad oedden nhw'n gallu llenwi'r gwlâu yn eu huned nhw ym Mhontardawe, a lle oedd 30 y cant allan o 1,000 o gleifion iechyd meddwl ag anableddau dysgu a oedd yn rhan o'r astudiaeth yma wedi cael eu rhoi mewn ysbytai yn Lloegr. Does dim synnwyr yn y peth. O'i glymu yn ôl at y ddadl flaenorol, mae'n bwysig tynnu sylw hefyd at y ffaith bod gan Gymru ddim uned breswyl anhwylderau bwyta. Mi oedd hi'n bleser cael sgwrs efo merch ifanc sy'n etholwraig i mi yn y cyfarfod heddiw yma. Roedd hi'n hyfryd siarad efo Sara am ei phrofiadau hi, ac yn torri calon rhywun o glywed profiadau Sara. Mi oedd Sara wedi gorfod teithio ymhell bell o gartref ac i Loegr er mwyn cael gofal, a hithau dim ond yn ei harddegau. Mae hynny'n annerbyniol. Gadewch i ni ystyried hefyd achos cau'r uned mamau a babanod yng Nghaerdydd ar gyfer mamau sy'n profi seicosis postpartum - penderfyniad a wnaeth niwed difrifol, fel cafodd ei ddweud yn glir iawn wrth ymholiad y pwyllgor yma yn y Senedd. Dyma chi ddyfyniad gan Goleg Brenhinol y Seiciatryddion: