Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I want to ask about the recovery of the health service too and reference a number of areas. I, too, will refer to this backlog in terms of cancer diagnosis, looking at a different aspect of that. It's a concern to think that thousands of people—over 4,000 people according to Macmillan—who haven't had a diagnosis. But it's a concern to me that what's happened...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: If I could turn next to orthopaedic services, there are huge challenges facing you in building capacity. I and every other Member here, I'm sure, will have heard about far too many patients waiting far, far too long in pain. In April of this year, there were 88,000 people waiting for trauma and orthopaedic treatment, with 60 per cent waiting over 36 weeks. The figure back in 2019 was around...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I want to finish, Llywydd, if I may, by turning to long COVID. It's a huge concern for me. I have huge concerns about young people, if truth be told, at the moment, as restrictions are relaxed. We'll have an opportunity to discuss that again. But I want to look specifically at the impact of long COVID on the health and care workforce. From my work as joint chair of the cross-party group on...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Yes, it's less than a week, now, until COVID restrictions are removed entirely in England. The chair of the BMA council, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, has described the timing, as the number of cases increases quickly, as being irresponsible, in addition to recent comments made by the World Health Organization, accusing the UK Government of
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'moral emptiness and epidemiological stupidity'.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Now, do you agree, given that you are saving those around you by wearing a face covering—it provides some protection for yourself too, of course—that scrapping the need for face coverings now is irresponsible?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you. I was asking you to give your view on what you think is responsible or irresponsible in Wales, and I do encourage you to retain the requirement to wear a face covering in all locations where people come into close contact, including in shops. I read one scenario over the weekend: it would be very odd, according to Councillor Gwynfor Owen in Gwynedd, if a shop worker had to wear a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for those words. You're certainly right that it's about weighing up risks, and given the nature of the debate in some quarters now, some people will listen to me today and to you and think that I'm being overcautious, that I'm being too risk averse, and it's not that. I'm looking at evidence when it comes to masks, for example, and if evidence can point to ways in which we can lift...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: He can't even keep a straight face.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I request a written statement as a matter of urgency on borders infrastructure in the port of Holyhead? There are parts of the infrastructure that are the responsibility of the Welsh Government and parts that are the responsibility of the UK Government, through HMRC. I've had enough of the lack of transparency and communication from HMRC. We now hear that they have purchased the Roadking...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, First Minister. I was going to start by thanking you for making this statement in the Senedd—all of the statements of the previous year should have been made in the Senedd—but I read now that some of this was released on social media. But we are closer to have had the statement made in the Senedd, where it should have been made. Thank you for sharing your assessment of the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'm pleased, if I may comment on what we heard from the leader of the Conservative Party—. I'm pleased that you weren't pushing for an immediate lifting of mandation on masks, as some members of the Conservative Party have been calling for that and asking for it to be made a matter of public choice, which would be fine if masks only protected ourselves. But their primary purpose, of course,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. Yes, there are things that haven't been decided yet. Vaccine passports are one of those things. I think that the Welsh Government is correct to keep the option open. I note that Sajid Javid in Westminster today has confirmed that the Conservative UK Government will keep this as an option for plan B for the winter. So, a difference of opinion between the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: We will be supporting this motion today. This isn't a party political matter, of course. I've worked on joint statements with Labour and Conservative Members in the past on this issue, and what is in front of us today is sensible and asks for basic and practical steps to be taken to save lives across Wales. It's a campaign I've been a part of myself. It's relevant to all of us. Whilst the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 3. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Climate Change regarding attracting green energy investment to Ynys Môn? OQ56913
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for that response. I was pleased to hear a reference to offshore wind energy. There's a very real economic opportunity for Ynys Môn from proposed BP developments in the Irish sea—the Mona and Morgan windfarms. I'm very eager to ensure that Holyhead will be the port to service the Mona development. It would create jobs and provide long-term assurances. But we also need...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I got slightly excited last week when I heard that the Government was to make an announcement on e-prescribing. At last, I said, given that we're only 21 years into the twenty-first century. But my heart sank when I saw that what the Government was announcing was that e-prescribing would be introduced within five years. Why is the Government so determined to move...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. I don't believe a word of that explanation for the delay, and I don't believe the Minister herself believes that explanation either. It's 15 years since the Government published its first strategy on e-prescribing. If it's another five years, 20 years will have passed, and, in the meantime, England and Scotland have been able to hold people's hands or whatever...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I am pleased that you said that it came as a shock to you to see us so far behind. I see your predecessor sitting very quietly next to you there, and the health Minister before him was the current First Minster, of course. But, throughout this pandemic, we have seen how services can move quickly and introduce change quickly, when the leadership and the political will are there. We can create...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 6. Will the Minister make a statement on access to GPs in Holyhead? OQ56912
