Pembroke Dock Welcomes New Mayor Michele Wiggins
SENEDD Members called for annual health checks for firefighters in Wales, with a study showing instances of cancer are up to 323% higher than the general population.
Luke Fletcher, who has been campaigning on the issue over the past two years, led a debate in the Senedd on a cross-party motion calling for urgent action.
'The dangers our firefighters face do not end once the flames are out,' said Mr Fletcher.
'Fire creates a cocktail of toxic chemicals that are known to increase the risk of cancers and other life-threatening illnesses.'
The Plaid Cymru politician pointed to research commissioned by the Fire Brigades Union, showing firefighters aged 35 to 39 faced an age-specific cancer rate up to 323% higher.
Plaid Cymru MS Luke Fletcher
Mr Fletcher added: 'Firefighters serving 15 years or more were almost twice as likely to develop cancer than those who served less time.'
Calling for urgent reform to safeguard firefighters' health, he said: 'Across the world, countries like the US, Canada and Australia have recognised the link between exposure to toxic effluents and the increased incidence of cancer among firefighters.
'Legislation in these countries ensures firefighters not only receive workplace compensation when illness strikes but also have access to routine medical monitoring, designed to catch illnesses early. Yet here in Wales, as across the UK, little such support exists.'
Mr Fletcher criticised Welsh ministers for not committing to a specific health monitoring programme: 'Every delay now carries consequences and we just need to get on with it.
'Further delays simply translate into more deaths due to cancer. The evidence is there, the stories are there – and the risk is very real.'
He concluded: 'Quite simply, it is the right thing to do, to do right by our fire service people and the families who have lost loved ones because of this occupational risk.'
Altaf Hussain, a surgeon-turned-Senedd Member, said: 'Firefighters regularly put their health on the line to deal with threats to ours and we regularly let them down.'
The Conservative added: 'We, at the very least, owe this service a commitment to do everything to minimise and mitigate the risk of the job.
Conservative MS Altaf Hussain
'That includes ensuring they are protected from toxins as well as monitored for exposure. This is not an issue that should be left to individual fire and rescue authorities.'
Rhys ab Owen, who sits as an independent, said: 'The issues raised in this report cannot be kicked down the road for the next government to resolve. The risk, the danger and the responsibility sit firmly at the government's door – and action must be taken.'
Responding to the May 14 debate for the Welsh Government, Jayne Bryant said ministers support the Fire Brigades Union campaign to reduce the risk of cancers firefighters face.
The housing and local government secretary told the Senedd all three fire and rescue services in Wales provide regular fitness and medical checks.
But Ms Bryant, whose responsibilities include fire services, stated the UK National Screening Committee does not recommend targeted screening programmes based on occupation.
She said Isabel Oliver, who was appointed the chief medical officer for Wales In January, will work with experts and relevant UK bodies to consider the evidence
Housing and local government secretary Jayne Bryant
'I'd like to reassure the Senedd that we remain fully committed to addressing these risks as effectively as possible,' she said. 'We will continue to work in social partnership with employers and unions to do so.'
Senedd Members voted 30-0 in favour of the motion, with 14 Labour members and the Conservatives' Tom Giffard abstaining.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wales Online
3 hours ago
- Wales Online
Man treks 70 miles across Welsh mountains with a fridge on his back in memory of his wife
Man treks 70 miles across Welsh mountains with a fridge on his back in memory of his wife When Matt Jones made a bet with his late wife about trekking the Clwydian Range twice with a fridge on his back, he initially meant it as a joke The "Fridge Freezeer Man" Matt Jones has completed an incredibly arduous trek (Image: @Fridge_freezer_man ) Imagine hiking 70 miles across a Welsh mountain range— sounds daunting, right? Now imagine doing this with a recent hip replacement, and a nearly six stone-heavy fridge freezer on your back and it will start sounding almost impossible. Yet, this is exactly what a 42-year-old father of four did in memory of his late wife, raising thousands of pounds for charity. Matt Jones, an ex Royal Marine Commando, took on the gruelling trek across the Clwydian Range to honour a bet he made jokingly with his late wife, Vicky Jones who tragically passed away two days before Christmas last year. She was a mother to Charlie, 13, Alistair, 11, Arayah, 8, and, Evrah, 6. 'I was in laying in bed and was just getting educated by a surgeon who had just given me a full new hip reconstruction basically, and told me that I should be slowing down," said Matt. "He advised me I'm gonna break my body if I carry on doing what I'm doing. The challenge toook him through the challenging Clwydian Range (Image: @Fridge_freezer_man ) 'My wife was sat in the corner of the room laughing to herself, basically telling the surgeon you're talking to a brick wall, this man will do Llangollen Round with a fridge on his back next time.' For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here The Llangollen Round is a bi-annual event where participants take part in a 35-mile sponsored hill hike across the Clwydian Range through a route that takes them through every summit around the Vale of Llangollen. Participants can complete the challenge either in one or two days. Article continues below 'I replied instantly I'll do it twice and I'll do it with a fridge freezer on my back,' Matt continued. 'At the time I didn't probably didn't really think that I was going to fulfil the bet. It was a bit of a tongue in cheek joke back to her. We're not a normal family I would say. 'Going into November, we talked about it as a family because I said I might do the thing off and round again and she was like remember you've got to do it with a fridge freezer and the children were laughing and joking.' Unfortunately, Vicky passed away soon after, on December 23. 'Going into the end of January. The mountains became my church a little bit," Matt said. "I started running a little bit and getting up there and I said to the children I think I'm going to go and do the Llangollen Round and they instantly said, 'well if you're doing it you got to do it with the fridge freezer and do it twice'.' And that is how the 'One Bet' challenge was born. Though it took a few hours of consideration, Matt was ready to fufill the bet he had made to Vicky, and started a training regiment to condition his body for the task. Though it was initially something private that only Matt and his children knew, it became hard to keep the secret as people would often spot him train in the mountains with the fridge on his back. 'The truth be told, for a long time, me and the children, we kept it a secret. The training started and this, this fridge freezer guy became a bit of a myth locally,' Matt explained. 'People were starting to talk saying, 'Have you heard about this guy up in the mountains with a fridge on his back?' Then it got to a point where I couldn't keep it a secret anymore.' Matt became a local legend while he practised ahead of the challenge (Image: @Fridge_freezer_man ) The training was not easy either, as Matt had to prepare his whole body for the seemingly insurmountable task. 'The conditioning is called conditioning of shoulders, hips, body, the whole body so it can go repetitively so that the body could withstand it for the period,' Matt said. 'So long training, but then recovery and then very high strength endurance. That's what it is. 'Repetitive, repetitive, repetitive but then allowing the body to recover to then go to the next level. I planned my training very structured to allow me to get both my engine, my lung capacity, my heart rate to stay at a particular level, and my strength to be strong enough to carry the weight. 'So it was very much a hybrid challenge because you've got to be strong enough to carry the weight, but then obviously fit enough to do the miles.' The extensive training took its toll as well, but Matt was determined to see the challenge through. 'Not official yet, but it's more than likely I'll have to replace the hip again. The whole body is broken at the moment, but it'll be fine,' Matt said. 'My body was trying to go into shock a few times, it was shutting down, but mentally, my mind's telling one thing and my body's saying another.' There was a moment when Matt and his team felt he wouldn't be able to complete the challenge, but a chance encounter with a rainbow, gave the team all the strength they needed. When they stopped for a rest on the first day, Matt was unsure if would be able to complete the challenge (Image: @Fridge_freezer_man ) 'There was probably one point where we were down, we were defeated, which was the end of the first day. We didn't get to where we needed to be,' Matt said. 'I could tell on a lot of people's faces, they were worried, I was worried. 'Then we had three hours sleep and we went again. The sun came up and we were traversing across the top… and a full rainbow came out above us and we all looked at each other. 'No one said anything, we just all looked at each other, we put the music on as loud as we could, and we absolutely just went up another couple of gears.' Another thing that inspired Matt and his children was Vicky's memories and her words. 'She was an incredible inspiring lady that had a gift of empowering people with confidence to believe in themselves' Matt said. 'She would always say you are the only you, own it, rock it, be it, embrace it, love it, be it. 'You are the only you. She'd always say that. She would preach that into my children and others. And just give others the inner confidence to better themselves, challenge themselves, and be the best version of yourself. She was an absolutely amazing woman.' It was this rainbow, that inspired Matt and his team when they were in a tricky spot (Image: @Fridge_freezer_man ) The challenge has also helped raised more than £50,000 pounds for children's hospice charity, Hope House Tŷ Gobaith which Matt says was close to Vickys heart and had helped some of their family members as well. 'Getting close to the event, obviously, there was no certainty that I would do it. It's pretty extreme,' Matt said. 'I knew very early on I'd have to go to a place physically, mentally, that I've never been before. I'm an ex Royal Marine Commando, I'm used to carrying heavy stuff on my back, long distances. 'Llangollen Round is a 36-hour event. You can do it in one day or two days. Obviously, I was trying to do it twice with a fridge freezer on my back in the 36-hour period, and we somehow… and I will say we, it was a team effort, it wasn't just me, I had a support team family allowing me to train. 'We decided to obviously raise money for Hope House, which is an amazing children's hospice charity on the borders of Wales up here. And I think the best part is we're at nearly £55,000 collectively now, which is amazing.' You can donate to the fundraiser in Vicky's memory by clicking here . Though his story has spread far, Matt said that gaining attention for himself was never the motive. 'That wasn't my objective at all. It was to fulfil the bet really with the children first, secondly to spread her mantra, and thirdly to raise money for the charity,' Matt said. 'I did hold back as long as I could because I consciously didn't want to make it about myself. 'I understand the news people are interested in the fridge freezer man, but that's not my objective. My objective is to spread what an amazing woman Vicky was.' It was his children who motivated Matt the most. 'They're very proud. Vicky runs through them all. They're a product of her environment,' he said. 'They knew I was going to do it. They were the only ones that knew I could do it, they were the only ones throughout. 'I had several people telling me, 'Why don't you just do it once? Trying to manage my expectations. They [his children] were the only ones that said, you're going to do this, we know you can do this. 'I think me and Vicky have always instilled in them two things, very simple: never ever be normal, never ever be boring. Love your life. We are slightly different. I know we are slightly, but they're very proud and I'm so proud of them. They're amazing.' Matt's children joined him in the journey (Image: @Fridge_freezer_man ) Matt hopes his challenge can aslo inspire other to push their boundaries, something that is very important to him. 'Don't become a number. I can't think of anything worse than one day lying on my bed, hopefully, with grandchildren and my family around me in my dying days, grey and old, looking back and wishing I'd done something,' he said. 'I think that's my goal. I come from a beautiful family that have given me the ability to spread my wings and achieve as much as I can in life and that's why I want to sit there hopefully one day and say, I did as much I could, I lived,' Matt added. Repeating Vicky's mantra, he added: 'Everything in moderation, but I think, keep pushing, be you. It's a cliche saying this is one life, live it, but honestly, more than ever to me, it is true. Tomorrow, everything could change, couldn't it? 'If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you, okay? Say that to yourself a few times and let it sink. What is the next challenge that's going to change you? It doesn't have to be a physical challenge. 'It doesn't have to be putting the fridge freezer in your back for sure. It can be little things in little steps that challenges you to change, inspire your children to be better people. 'My view, Vicky's view, more than anything was we're on this planet to create better people than what we are. That's our job in life, if you have children. I know my children will become better people than I am.' Matt says he would not have made it without his team (Image: @Fridge_freezer_man ) Though he did eventually conquer the challenge, Matt believes he would not have been able to do it without his team and his family. Article continues below 'It was a team challenge and I can't thank them enough, the role that they played, regardless of how big or how small it was, it was a team effort, from family to friends, to support team,' Matt said. 'I was a cog in a wheel, that's my job. Everyone put me in the best possible position that day to deliver. 'We had all challenges with wind and weather and fueling and a few things went wrong but we we did it because we were a team we were a unit.'
Wales Online
6 hours ago
- Wales Online
‘My baby died after I was left alone by midwives in Welsh hospital'
'My baby died after I was left alone by midwives in Welsh hospital' Emily Brazier gave birth to Liliwen Thomas at University Hospital of Wales in the absence of medics and midwives Emily Brazier, pictured with partner Rhodri Thomas, claims their baby daughter Liliwen Iris Thomas died after she'd been left alone by midwives during labour (Image: Slater and Gordon ) A woman claims her baby died after she'd been left alone by midwives while she gave birth. Emily Brazier gave birth to daughter Liliwen Iris Thomas at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff on October 10, 2022 in the absence of midwives or nurses who did not know she was giving birth. Emily claimed she had been given so much pain relief after being induced that she wasn't able to call for help and didn't realise she was in labour. Despite having a high-risk pregnancy and having been monitored by medics prior to going into labour, Emily said no-one was present in the room at the hospital when she had Liliwen, who died 20 hours later after being starved of oxygen. On Wednesday Cardiff and Vale University Health Board issued a statement saying its 'sincere thoughts and heartfelt condolences' were with Emily and her family. An inquest is due to take place and the health board said they will comment further after the conclusion of the hearing. Emily claimed: 'I'm angry at how I was left alone. For all the checks I had during my pregnancy, what were they for if I was going to be abandoned when it really mattered? 'Being left unattended with the gas and air, which I heavily overused due to non-existent monitoring, I then vividly remember peeling back the covers and seeing Liliwen there, completely still and lifeless. I can only describe it as a blood bath. That image will be with me forever. I still have flashbacks and nightmares and have been in counselling since.' Emily's partner and Liliwen's father Rhodri Thomas said he wasn't there at the time because of the health board's policy of partners and friends not being allowed to be on the ward between 9pm and 9am. Article continues below He said partners are allowed on the ward if the mother is in active labour. 'I should have been there,' he said. 'I would have pressed the call bell and alerted midwives.' Emily Brazier and Rhodri Thomas with daughter Liliwen Iris Thomas, who died hours after her birth in hospital (Image: Slater and Gordon ) Emily was closely monitored throughout her pregnancy and was undergoing induction due to her having low pregnancy associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) – the same as she had with her older daughter Carys. She was under the care of a consultant during her pregnancy with Liliwen and had several scans over the months to ensure the baby's welfare. As part of her monitoring, it was flagged that when giving birth to Carys three years previously, her labour progressed extremely quickly after she was given pethidine and entonox pain medication, which she was administered again for Liliwen's birth. Stay informed on the latest health news by signing up to our newsletter here Liliwen was due on October 7 so Emily was booked in for an induction under PAPP-A protocols, but twice was sent home due to lack of bed availability. When Emily was eventually induced on October 9, as her labour progressed she was told there was no room in the delivery suite. Emily was given pethidine and codeine for pain relief and claimed she was left unattended with gas and air at around 11.50pm. At 2.15am on October 10 Emily recalls 'being in a cycle of puffing gas and air, passing out, and repeating'. She recalled: 'They took Liliwen away and rushed me up to the delivery suite, I had lost a lot of blood and needed stitches, IV fluids and a blood transfusion. All this happened while I was still on the induction ward with only curtains around my bed separating me from four other women. It must have been horrendous for them too.' Rhodri claimed he was not informed of what had happened at the hospital other than Emily had gone into labour. When he arrived he said he believed he was about to meet his newborn daughter. 'I got a taxi to the hospital and remember talking to the taxi driver excitedly about how I was about to meet my newborn child,' he said. 'When I got there and saw Emily, she was white as a ghost and in a bad way, she told me: 'I don't know if our baby is alive.'' The baby died at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff in October 2022 and an inquest is due to take place (Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne ) Although Liliwen was put on life support she died later that same day. Her cause of death was given as perinatal asphyxia (lack of oxygen at birth), congenital bacterial infection and placental problems. Since that time, Emily and Rhodri say they have struggled psychologically, and Emily – who was studying to be a nurse at the time she had Liliwen – has opted against a career as a registered nurse after the trauma she suffered on a hospital ward. While the couple welcomed their third child, a son named Ellis, in December 2024, Emily says the grief of the loss of Liliwen continues to cast a shadow over the family's lives. 'So many happy memories and special family moments are tinged with sadness," she said. "I dread family events and Christmas as Liliwen will never be there, she will always be the missing piece, her death should never have happened and that's hard to live with.' A spokesperson for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: 'Our sincere thoughts and heartfelt condolences remain with Liliwen's family during this incredibly difficult time. The health board is fully engaged with the inquest process and it would be inappropriate to comment further until the inquest concludes.' Article continues below
Time Out
6 hours ago
- Time Out
Town isn't about the chaos of the city, but super seasonality, regenerative farming, and letting the produce speak for itself
It's wild that nobody before has ever thought to name a restaurant 'Town'. Think of the endless possibilities of 'Town'! It's the place everybody wants to go; the place where so many thrilling things happen; the place where, if you can make it there, you are highly likely to make it anywhere. This new, shimmering incarnation of 'Town' can be found on the fringes of Covent Garden, far enough away from the frantic piazza so as not to be heaving with tourists and/or street performers. It's a truly grand room, a Ballardian boudoir in shiny, wipe-clean burgundy, with an open kitchen framed by a massive, oval-shaped and lime green opening. The retro-futurism thing is further dished up via the soundtrack; Dorothy Ashby's 'Afro-Harping' slinks groovily in the background, and there're a vinyl copy of Lou Donaldson's 1968 sax odyssey 'Alligator Boogaloo' perched on a record player (which nevertheless remains switched off for the duration of our visit). Such a space-age aesthetic is perhaps at odds with Town's menu, which has more in common with the rustic likes of surrealist late-1990s cookery show River Cottage than it does Barbarella. You see, Town isn't about the chaos of the city, but super seasonality, regenerative farming, and letting the produce speak for itself. It is, essentially, a plotline from The Archers. In practice, this means that the food is deeply considered, but pretty low intervention - it's less about cooking, and more about arranging lovely things on a plate. That's not to say Town avoids all contemporary trends. The snack of 2025, the gilda, comes with a nubbin of soused mackerel and a folded shiso leaf, while the snack of 2024, fried sage leaves, comes heavy on the batter and drizzled in honey. The snack of 2023 - a pastel-shaded pickle plate - is accessorised with a simple dollop of salted yogurt. My starter of wine-cured beef is just as fuss-free, with a scattering of candied walnuts and a few dots of creamy cheese, while Welsh lobster is no doubt cooked incredibly, but is relatively pared-back when it comes to presentation, layered with creamy sheets of lardo and dolloped with a XO sauce so brawny that it practically throbs. A side salad of tomato, nespoles (a kind of a fancy apricot) and elderflower is perhaps where Town's vision is clearest - a carnival of colour, furiously fresh flavour and powerful sense of pride at nature's perfect bounty. The vibe Brutalism, but make it glam - a swanky space with pricey dishes. The food Ingredient-led fare with a focus on British-grown produce and sustainability practices. The drink Lots of wine and a deft cocktail menu as devised by award-winning bar Satan's Whiskers. Our 'Dill Boy' martini was small but strong and handsome aka the Tom Hardy of drinks.
