Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, thanks very much, and can I also congratulate Russell George once again? I think I congratulated prematurely last time. First of all, I'm sure you, like me, welcome that £1 billion extra that we are going to be putting in specifically to try and tackle the issues that have arisen as a result of the pandemic. There is, as the Member knows, a significant backlog of work that needs to be...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr iawn. I think the Member was absolutely right to talk about the new normal, because I don't think it's right that we go back to the old ways of working. We need to take advantage of new technology, and I'm pleased to say that there has been a tremendous take-up of that £9.2 million funding that was made available up until March this year. I really welcome the Member's interest...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Joel, and I join with you in thanking the tremendous efforts of our NHS workers during the pandemic. I think patients understand that everything needed to change and adapt in light of the pandemic, and, of course, the number of patients physically that were allowed inside premises was quite important in order to minimise the risk to all. I think the roll-out of new...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Joel, for the question.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Community medical facilities have played and continue to play a vital role throughout the pandemic. Officials are continuing to work with health boards to inform planning for booster vaccines and to ensure that access to wider primary care services is balanced to ensure the population is protected from COVID.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: In March we published 'Health and Social Care in Wales—COVID-19: Looking forward', supported by £100 million of additional funding. This funding has been allocated to health boards and they are using it to improve services across primary, community and secondary care and increase planned care activity.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is working with primary care services to implement the Primary Care Model for Wales to improve access for people in the Holyhead area to care and support closer to home in line with the vision in 'A Healthier Wales'.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Recovering from the pandemic is going to take time, investment and a new approach to delivering care. On 20 May I set out plans for £100 million investment to kick-start the health and care system’s recovery. Aneurin Bevan University Health Board received £17 million to increase capacity in planned care, diagnostics, therapies and mental health.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board asked the Royal College of Surgeons to undertake an external review of vascular services. We noted the findings and recommendations of the report. The task and finish group have updated the work programme in light of the RCS recommendations and we will monitor progress.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks, Janet. And first of all, can I thank you for everything you're doing, because actually I think it's really important that Senedd Members take a leadership role in asking people to come forward in these instances? So, thanks very much for that, and if you could continue to encourage people in that area, irrespective of whether they're showing symptoms or not, to come forward, that...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Tom, and welcome to the Senedd.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Certainly, I'm very aware that there are many people who are struggling to get GP appointments at the moment, at least in the traditional way, and part of what we need to do, I think, in response to the pandemic, is to take the good bits that we've learnt from the pandemic. I think that, actually, there's a lot to be said for remote consultation. Certainly, I represent Mid and West Wales; I'm...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, and welcome to the Senedd to you too, Mabon. Certainly, I think that it is important to understand how impractical it would be for us to close our borders, but having said that, I have already tried to demonstrate what we're doing in practical terms to ask people to take the steps that we want them to take before they come to our nation: to take a test before they travel,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, James, and welcome to the Senedd.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Certainly, I am very aware of the fact that we have literally hundreds of thousands of people in Wales who are waiting for treatment on the NHS. We are, unfortunately, in this very, very difficult situation where, I think, people generally are fairly understanding that we had a crisis, and we've had to respond to that crisis, and that crisis continues. We can't still go back to normal...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Rhianon. Not only will we meet the target, we're going to smash the target, and so we are very proud of that situation. By next week, we will have offered all adults over 18 the opportunity to have the first dose of the vaccine. We will continue in the same vein as we have acted throughout the pandemic, and that is to act on the basis of evidence and data, taking advice from...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. You are right to say that one dose appears to be less effective than two doses in terms of protecting us from the delta variant. We are very aware, therefore, particularly in some areas where the variant is coming to the fore, that we need to accelerate the process. I spoke to the chief executive of Betsi Cadwaladr a few hours ago just to ask, in that area, whether it...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Russell, and thank you first of all for recognising the incredible efforts that have been made by everybody who has been involved in the vaccine roll-out. I think that we do need to pay tribute to those people who have really made the right calls at the right time throughout that process. I know it was a little bit hairy for my predecessor in the first couple of weeks, but I...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Whilst the public health situation therefore remains good in Wales, the delta variant brings a new level of uncertainty. It was in this context that the most recent review of the coronavirus restrictions took place, on 3 June. Whilst Wales is moving to alert level 1, as previously signalled, we will now do this in a phased way. Changes to the regulations from 7 June therefore focused on...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I am sure that Members will be pleased to note that Wales continues to have the lowest rate of coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom. The number of confirmed cases here in Wales is currently 10.4 per 100,000 people. The number of people in hospital with coronavirus is at the lowest level since the start of the pandemic. We have recently seen a period of 10 days...
