4. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Winter Protection Plan

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:33 pm on 15 September 2020.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 4:33, 15 September 2020

Thank you for the statement, Minister. I'll begin with that assertion of yours that we're in a position very similar to that which we were in in February. I know why you're saying it, because this is the same virus, it's as potentially dangerous as it was back then and I fully concur with your view that it's up to all of us to face our own responsibilities in terms of adhering to guidance and so on, but we should be, of course, in a much, much better place than we were in February. We have track and trace, we know a bit more about treatments—a lot more about treatments—we do have, finally, now, the wearing of face coverings, keeping people safe, and so on. What we need to know now, going into the winter, is that lessons have been learned and some of, perhaps, the bad decisions made early on—understandable, given that this was new, if not entirely forgivable, but understandable—we need to make sure that they aren't happening again. And whilst you spent a lot of that statement saying how important it is that people take their own responsibilities, it's about what the Government can do and, on testing and tracing, it's not people who are flouting rules who are finding it difficult to get tests in my constituency and throughout Wales at the moment—it's people who can't get tests because they aren't available now. Can you explain to us what will be done ahead of this winter to make sure that the over-reliance that you decided to put on the lighthouse labs won't become a problem in coming weeks and months? This is something that independent SAGE warned against; I'm concerned about it too. We're looking for assurances from you. 

I wrote to you about the problems in getting tests last week. I also in that letter asked: please, can we move towards the asymptomatic testing of domiciliary carers and community nurses, and others who have to visit people's homes? Because there are fears that those tests that have been made available in residential homes still aren't there for people who need them just as much because of the vulnerability of people that they come across. Please can you assure us that that is something that you will look at introducing as we approach the winter, or do so immediately?

I'm concerned that there's no mention, whilst you look at the flu, of other chronic health conditions. In particular, I'm thinking of cancer. There's no reference to that in your statement. It's vital that you keep the NHS running, of course, for other health conditions as much as possible, and I dread to think what the survival rates for cancer will be next year if we have a winter without screening or testing. So, it's about what Government can show us at the onset of winter that they have learned that actually makes now very different to February in terms of our potential to certainly get a better outcome than we did in those early days of the pandemic here in Wales.