Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:24 pm on 15 September 2020.
Minister, thank you for your statement this afternoon. Can I put on record my sincere thanks to all the staff that make up the health and social care family in Wales for what they've done so far since the COVID outbreak was officially declared in March, and, indeed, to you as Minister, and the Government as well? Because I'm sure the pressure on all of you as individuals has been as great a challenge as anything you've faced in your political if not in your entire lives. But I would like to ask a series of questions about the plan that you have tabled before the Assembly today.
It's important that such plans do maintain confidence, and confidence is a critical component, not just from the staff who will be delivering this plan, but obviously the public who have to buy into it. Yesterday, we had the breach from Public Health Wales around the testing and the data that was put up on public display. This afternoon we've heard from the First Minister that he didn't know anything about that breach of data until 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon, when Public Health Wales put that up on display. I'm led to believe that Welsh Government were informed on 2 September of this data breach, and you as Minister were informed on 3 September. Can you inform the Assembly today of the timeline when this information was made available to you, and why did you retain that information rather than share it with other colleagues in Government? Or is it the case that you did share it with other colleagues in Government, but not the First Minister? I think it is really important that we understand how Government is working when such anomalies—and it is an anomaly, I accept, the data breach, but it's a serious anomaly of 18,000 names appearing on a public website, and it's vital that we keep confidence.
Secondly, could you highlight how this plan will start to address the issue of tackling the waiting lists that have built up through the summer months? Because it is critically important that we do make progress in that particular area. I agree entirely with you when you say about the issue of it being a real troubling time when you've got COVID and waiting times and normal winter pressures, but it's important that the public can have confidence that some of these waiting times will be eaten into.
Thirdly, on the flu vaccine programme, can you identify that there are enough doses available to meet the requirements of the flu vaccine programme that you've put before us? Because a new cohort of individuals has been brought into the scheme, and as I understand it, there are still negotiations pending with the pharmaceutical companies to secure enough dosage to make sure that there's enough flu vaccine available in the country.
Fourthly, it is vital that we understand the support that the staff require, both in social and in health settings. Are you confident that this plan that you've put before us today to meet winter pressures will meet the needs of staff both in social care and healthcare settings, so that ultimately they can feel supported, whether it be in PPE or making sure that they can make the decisions that they require to meet the circumstances that face them in their own localities?
Finally, could you highlight to me in particular—because it's a concern that I've had raised with me around dental services—how this plan will address the chronic problems that the dental service in this country is facing at the moment, getting back to as near normal as possible, albeit the new normal that we face with the COVID regulations?