Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 4. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:26 pm on 8 July 2020.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 2:26, 8 July 2020

Yes, quite right. I think you confirmed what I was saying in your response there on the dashboard data. You say seven positive tests in Wales, three in non-NHS labs; the dashboard I saw only had those seven. So, that shows that all the data has to be presented in an up-to-date way, wherever the tests are processed.

I'm going to turn, finally, to another area where we need faster test results, and that's cancer diagnosis. The COVID crisis has led to a number of very worrying predictions about excess deaths from cancer that are likely to occur this year as a result of screening programmes being cancelled, people being too afraid to visit the NHS, and, of course, treatment being postponed. So, it's more vital than ever that we get fast test results where cancer is suspected. So, will you therefore adopt a cancer rescue plan that has more ambitious targets for testing and treatment than have previously been the case, because of the probability that the NHS will be identifying cancers at a later stage?