Effect of COVID-19 on Health Services

Part of 4. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:13 pm on 8 July 2020.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:13, 8 July 2020

Well, obviously, as the Member knows, I'm not in a position to comment on the individual concerns that he raises, and I'm sure he'll be raising those with the treating health board. It's a matter of fact, not opinion, that we're restarting NHS services and that urgent cancer care has always been available. However, there will have been times when operational matters, such as people isolating if they have a positive test, or their context will have affected individual parts of our service. What we're looking to do is to progressively treat more people and, as I say, to give people the confidence to come into the service.

When it comes to excess deaths from cancer, but other conditions too, as I have said, again, I am genuinely concerned, and have been for months, as you'll know from the Record, that the impact on treatment means we'll have different outcomes and harm caused in different ways. It's part of what has made our task, as a Government and a health service that work for the people of Wales, so incredibly difficult, but I am confident we're doing the right thing in restarting activity and more lives will be saved as a result.