Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Mabon. I believe the First Minister gave an explanation with regard to the situation quite thoroughly this week. Clearly, we're in a position where we were following the guidance. The Royal of College of Surgeons, of course, had recommended that things were centralised in the first instance, so I do think it's important that we look at the guidance that they're eager to...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The people of Wales deserve the highest quality health services and the best outcomes. Striving for excellence should be at the heart of all health boards' plans, and embedded in all levels of the NHS. We're committed to strengthening this through our collaborative transformation and quality improvement approaches.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Darren. Well, certainly, we are concerned about the situation in relation to vascular in north Wales. I have been comforted by the fact that it was Betsi itself that called in the Royal College of Physicians to look at the situation. That was the right thing for them to do. I am hoping that they're going to respond quickly to that review. They have undertaken to put forward...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The health board has invested an additional £840,000 in dentistry, including the provision of urgent access. As a result, there's been a provision increase from 157 to 300 urgent appointments available per week. Access to more routine care remains limited due to necessary infection control measures, and priority is determined according to patient need.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, thanks very much, Alun. I can assure you that I've been very concerned about the situation, not just in your constituency, but in other constituencies around Wales. Because of the pandemic, we have seen a massive reduction. And it's not just because of the pandemic, I do accept that, but, certainly, that has reduced the capacity by about 50 per cent. So, you can't ignore that. That is a...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Llywydd, and greetings from St David's on Saint David's Day. In terms of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) Regulations 2020, we must review the regulations every three weeks. The last three-weekly review was concluded on 10 February. With more and more people having been vaccinated, including being boosted, and thanks to the hard work of everyone...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. I'm very grateful to the Members for their contributions. Of course—[Inaudible.]
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Can you hear me?
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Okay, thanks. Just to say that we're all very content that the vaccines and the vaccination plan have been very successful here in Wales. Of course, we're in a situation now where we are not going to continue with the passes, but, of course, people have an opportunity, if they want to, to use them. And, of course, if it is something that they decide to do, they will have to make that decision...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Unlike in England, Russell, we like to follow the science rather than the politics here in Wales when it comes to dealing with COVID, and I'm very pleased to say that the Welsh public seems to have responded positively to that, with around 70 per cent of the public in Wales supporting the approach that the Welsh Government has taken in Wales, compared to about 40 per cent supporting the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Rhun, in terms of the continuation of testing, a lot more detail in terms of our plans for testing in the future will be provided on Friday. Of course, we're very aware of how important it is to protect people who are vulnerable, and I do think it's important that you too have met with people who have lost loved ones and I'm sure that you heard what the First Minister said this afternoon...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you for the opportunity to give an update to this place on the recent information on coronavirus.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks for the opportunity to provide an update about the current public health situation, the outcome of the latest review of the coronavirus regulations, and our plans to move beyond the emergency response to the pandemic as we move to live safely with coronavirus in the longer term. I’m pleased to report that cases of coronavirus continue to be well below the peak that we saw with...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We hope that our vaccines will continue to be effective and that the national health service will not be overwhelmed. Our public health response will be based on the existing, well-established protocols for communicable diseases, and the surveillance and reporting of COVID-19 will take place alongside the reporting mechanisms for respiratory infections. We will begin to integrate our very...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. Thanks very much, Russell. I'm glad that you're welcoming the lifting of restrictions. Of course, our job is to keep Wales safe. Other Governments keep their own people safe, but our responsibility is to do it in the way that we believe is correct for us, and we do that by always trying to follow the evidence and the science. But we've always been very clear that, actually, it...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, and I too very much hope that this is the last major statement with regard to COVID, and I very much hope that we can continue and focus on other issues regarding the NHS in future. Just in terms of the absence of funding, if we needed to return to some of these measures in futures, there's always funding in reserve and we would have to make a case to the Minister for...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The lateral flow tests will continue to be available from pharmacies until 31 March. Discussions are taking place with our partners to ensure that those vulnerable people who are digitally excluded can continue to access tests when they need after 31 March. So, there is a facility for you to phone up and to get that support, or you can obviously order those online. We're also working with our...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Just in terms of ventilation in hospitals—
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: —there have been lots of reports and assessments made in terms of making sure that people are taking that situation seriously, so every health board knows exactly what they need to do in this space. I've given an answer on the core participants' status, but I think it's really important that we do stand by our health and care workers and give them the medical support that they need. They...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Mark. This is an issue that has been ongoing for a long time, so whilst the Wales and England systems speak to each other and they can record and we can know exactly if people have had a first vaccination and a second vaccination in England, the system has never worked with Scotland. And the responsibility for that and the people leading on the digital side of this is...
