Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:53 pm on 27 November 2019.
Thank you for that answer, Minister. And, of course, as we enter the winter period, the pressure placed upon the ambulance service is enormous. We have seen record rates of sickness absence in the Welsh ambulance trust, putting more pressure on the service. Difficulty in accessing out-of-hours care continues to drive patients towards our overstretched accident and emergency departments, which has a knock-on effect on ambulance handover times. So, Minister, what steps has your Government taken to ensure the efficient handover of patients at emergency departments this winter in order to ensure our ambulance service is not stretched to breaking point?