Resuming Treatments

Part of 4. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:34 pm on 8 July 2020.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:34, 8 July 2020

There are a number of different steps we're taking. You'll have heard the First Minister describe this earlier. It's not a simple or straightforward matter, because the normal waiting list initiatives, the way we'd have worked, we'd have been able to get through more in, if you like, standard NHS time, as well as running additional sessions. That's less likely to be possible in the same way. It's why we've maintained contact with the independent sector and how they may be able to help in terms of dealing with both urgent and other matters too. But it's also why we're looking at the current operating framework and the need to continually reform the way we deliver services. As we're looking to have green zones, we may end up having a greater amount of elective care and throughput in some parts of the service because of the way we will have to behave to make sure that we have COVID-secure and, if you like, COVID-positive or COVID-suspected zones as well. So you can expect to see that in health board plans, but also in the statements that I expect to bring back to the Senedd as we go into the autumn, to set out some more detail of that. And of course, health board plans will go through the normal health board governance and be published as part of the health board papers.