Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 1:52 pm on 11 March 2020.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 1:52, 11 March 2020

And a short collection of questions, just to finish off. We know that Italy reached the point where they needed, or felt they needed, a nationwide lockdown. I'd appreciate just an idea of the kinds of plans that are being put in place, initially perhaps, for local lockdowns, and what preparations are being made for that.

Secondly, on 111, and the telephone triaging that is going on at the moment. I've contacted your office today with a specific concern about the parents of a constituent of mine who have returned from a cruise, contacted the triage centres on telephone—as they were instructed to do—were told, 'No, you're not in a risk category.' Others who were on the same cruise, I am told, have since been diagnosed as having COVID-19. You can imagine, therefore, the concern of my constituent and her parents. She can't visit her parents, because she suffers from pneumonia herself. So, again, it's a portrayal of the wider problems here. So how can we be sure that the telephone triaging isn't missing people who actually perhaps should be in a higher risk category? These people had said, 'Listen, we think we are at risk', and they were told that they were not, and they think that now they should be tested. I'll wait for a response from your office on that.

But also, we're still hearing from people who are saying they've tried to contact 111, and have been, for example, guided to a website, which tells them, '111 isn't available in your area.' Will you gather data on the use of 111, failure to connect to 111, and on how many people who do try to use the services—as they rightly should—are either not getting through, or are being sent to other websites, which are just not able to help them?