COVID-19: Testing for Care Home Staff

Part of 6. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:04 pm on 15 July 2020.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 3:04, 15 July 2020

Thank you for the question. Well, actually, the reference that you made to Aneurin Bevan is a national approach in terms of hospital discharge, and it's part of a risk-based approach. When we changed testing policy on discharges out of hospital, that was largely about providing confidence to the residential care sector. The evidence and advice, at that point in time, did not support, on a science basis, testing everyone who was asymptomatic. It has always been the case that people with symptoms should have been tested before discharge from hospital. We then had a situation where we recognised that, actually, the sector was going to start declining referrals, which would have been particularly difficult for people, because harm is caused when people are ready to leave hospital and they're not able to. So, it was a practical choice about giving confidence and about keeping the whole service moving so people could return, in large part, to their own home, as opposed to new admissions from people who have not been in a care home environment before. 

When it comes to the risk-based approach, we are then looking at what the risk is in overall harms if that testing doesn't take place, and that's very different to an unevidenced approach where we don't understand the risks on a wider roll-out of asymptomatic testing, which I'm regularly urged to undertake by a range of people, including in the Chamber here today. The up-to-date evidence I think is something that is of genuine interest to Members of all sides, so I understand they're asking questions because they are concerned about their constituents and how we maintain the success we've seen, as a country, to get to the point where we have very low prevalence rates of coronavirus, as we want to successfully not just come out of lockdown, in the final stages, but actually to maintain that time out of lockdown. And that's why we're reconsidering how we rebalance the NHS with red and green zones. It's why we're thinking about a whole variety of things. The testing strategy is a part of that, and that's why I've set out the testing strategy today. And I'm in a position to answer these questions today because I signed off that strategy very late last night. I've been keen to get it right and then to make sure that we're able to provide that to Members and the public. And the statement that you have before you today, and the strategy, is part of that.

If the evidence changes, I'm sure Mr Ramsay and other Members would expect me to revise my position and to revise the way I expect the service to behave. But that's the very latest up-to-date evidence and advice, and I'm going to continue to act based upon the science. But ultimately they're my decisions, as the health Minister, about how we keep Wales safe.