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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:34 pm on 1 April 2020.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 3:34, 1 April 2020

[Inaudible.]—support. That may come up again in questions with Ken Skates, because his department, in terms of the business support for those people, is actually really important to make sure they're helped to manufacture. So, there's more than one potential opportunity to manufacture CPAP machines, which are a level down from invasive ventilation but can be helpful. The faculty of intensive care have actually produced some guidance about the increased use of those machines. So, we're supporting a range of companies and working alongside them to assist in the manufacture of those in the here and now. I know UK headlines are very excited about the Mercedes Formula 1 team being involved in doing something, but we have a range of examples here in Wales where we are manufacturing those machines as well.

So, it goes into a central team here in the Government to understand what's on offer, and then to understand the technical specifications of what's potentially on offer, and then, if there's business support need, that's where Ken's team comes in. We've got a centralised process, so it's not going to three or four different people, we understand which group of officials are supposed to be dealing with it, provide the support and also in a reasonable time frame.

On your point about shielded letters, to people who are to be shielded, the 81,000 people have been tightly drawn up on clinical criteria. Now, there is a wider group of people outside that who we've also advised should really be staying at home if at all possible—so, for example, women who are pregnant and people over the age of 70. Not every pregnant person, not every person over the age of 70 will have a shielded letter; they shouldn't expect to have one. I think there is some confusion within that, but it's important to be clear with our constituents that, if you're over the age of 70, that doesn't mean you will automatically get a shielded letter, and to have some patience and to ask people not to ring GPs, because otherwise they will be overwhelmed.

Now, the work we're continuing to do with the third sector and local authorities, and indeed the food supply sector, is initially about getting support to people in that most vulnerable group—the 81,000—who don't already have a mechanism to get supplies themselves, whether that's food or medicine or other goods, and it's then to work on support for that wider group of people. Now, some local authorities are already in a place to be able to do that. We're looking to be able to provide some clarity on a national basis about how that wider group of people are continuing to receive support to be able to stay at home. That's why the wider volunteer network is so important to us, to help the widest group of people possible.

On prescription delivery, I've tried to make it clear several times, and I'm happy to do so again, that if people can get their own scripts—if not them, if they're supposed to be staying at home, their friends, family or trusted people who can go and get the script for them—they should do so. If they rely on delivery and they have no other means of getting that, then their pharmacy should deliver. We had an incident last week where there were localised challenges with a well-known pharmaceutical company, and I had direct contact with that company in Wales on what's supposed to happen. That was unhelpful for people who were caught in a position where they didn't get the supplies delivered to their door as they should have expected, but it was helpful in the sense that it meant that that group went out and told all of their store managers the guidance they'd issued on making sure that, if people can't get their own scripts, then they should make sure that they're delivered, and there should not be delivery charges during all the time that we are facing the COVID-19 pandemic as well. I hope that's helpful.