6. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Preparing the health and care services in Wales for a 'no deal' Brexit

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:00 pm on 1 October 2019.

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Photo of David Lloyd David Lloyd Plaid Cymru 5:00, 1 October 2019

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank the Minister for his latest statement on 'no deal' Brexit preparations in health and social services? In the part of your statement on page 2, you say that there are similar UK-wide arrangements in place for radioisotopes, supported by dedicated express freight channels into airports. Obviously, medical radioisotopes are hugely important, and this is an area of huge concern. The Minister will know that these isotopes—radioactive isotopes—are essential for our high-tech medical scanning kits in all of our larger hospitals, and some hospitals that are not so large, in fact. Also, these medical radioisotopes are used in high-end cancer treatments and various investigations that we carry out. So, they are absolutely vital.

You also know that radioisotopes like technetium and molybdenum have a half-life of six hours only. Half of it disappears in six hours, in other words. Another half disappears in another six hours, and so it goes on. We get these from the European mainland at the moment. So, two questions follow specifically as regards medical radioisotopes. Has the Welsh Government obtained legal clarification on whether EU suppliers will even be able to sell us these radioisotopes without an agreement, as this is classed as nuclear material? The second question is: is the Welsh Government satisfied that the plan of flying radioisotopes into Coventry Airport for distribution to bypass queues in ports will work, and that there will be no delays for checks on either the EU or the UK side, given that every hour of delay means that the materials are less likely to work, particularly for hospitals far away in Wales, and that the M42, M5 and M6 routes into Wales are frequently jammed?