8. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 12:25 pm on 24 March 2020.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 12:25, 24 March 2020

Minister, firstly, thank you for all the detailed answers and all the regular advice notes and so on, which are of considerable assistance to, I think, all of us who are fielding many, many questions from members of the community at this particularly difficult time. And it is a difficult and very anxious time, so I would particularly like to put on record, I think, my praise and commendation for the staff at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, who, throughout this period, through music and through dance, have produced videos, which have almost gone viral, communicating safety messages. Not only does it raise the morale of the staff in the hospital, I think it is also the most excellent way of actually communicating those safety messages, and, if people haven't seen them, I think they ought to perhaps have a look and share them, because they really are very, very impressive—and impressive that the staff have managed to take their own time in the hospitals to actually produce these and to explain to the public what they are doing.

Can I raise just a couple of short questions? First of all—and it is in respect of testing, because I have had GPs in the Cwm Taf area who've raised the issue of family members with coughs and so on, which has resulted in some key staff having to stay home, and that there have been difficulties in actually accessing the testing, that the helpline number has been unavailable and so on. I'm just wondering what monitoring is taking place to ensure that those particular problems that have arisen have now been resolved, because they can result in significant delays in getting back to work for some key medical staff.

And the second point is in respect of volunteering. As we saw in the floods, certainly in the Rhondda Cynon Taf area, there were many, many people who came to the fore to help their neighbours and their fellow people, and what has been very, very important now, I think, is that we have a lot of people coming forward for volunteering. Rhondda Cynon Taf has, of course, set up a mechanism for the registration of volunteers, because volunteering in itself can be a hazard because of the nature of coronavirus, so responsible volunteering, it seems to me, is the absolute key. And because this may overlap into areas of social care and so on, I'm just wondering what steps are being done to roll out best practice that is being shown in certain council areas across Wales, and ensuring that there is proper guidance for safe volunteering.