Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:10 pm on 7 January 2020.
I'd like to reiterate the points that Angela Burns has made about the urgent need to have a full—I would argue—debate, but if that's not possible, a statement in Government time about the state of winter pressures. We all know what the position is in Hywel Dda and the point the First Minister made about front-line staff is, of course, absolutely correct, but he and others may very well have heard the director of the Royal College of Nursing on the radio this morning asking the Welsh Government to—her words were—'Get back in the room', to talk to people about why this situation happens year-on-year. As Angela Burns has said, in the whole term of this Assembly, and, indeed, probably before, winter comes every year, people get flu every year, we have norovirus every year, and we really do need Welsh Government to explain how it is going to get back in the room, as the nurses are asking us to do, because this situation can't be allowed to continue year-on-year. I think we also need to ensure that this is a discussion about health and social care, because one of the things that the nursing community are certainly putting to me is that one of the big issues at this time of year is that if social services departments, for example, have closed down for long periods in the winter because of staff leave, they can't then discharge patients, they can't get assessments made.
I did read with interest the Welsh Government's press statement on this matter, and I have to say that I found it a bit self-congratulatory. Of course, the £30 million is welcome, but unless it's used properly, it's not going to solve the problem. So, I would reiterate the request for a statement—at least a statement, preferably a debate—in Government time urgently. I am aware that we have questions to the health Minister, I think, next week, but those will not give us a sufficient opportunity to examine in detail what's going on around what is certainly in Hywel Dda a crisis, and I know from colleagues is a real problem in Betsi Cadwaladr health board as well.