Motion NDM7489 Darren Millar

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Notes the BBC Wales Investigates report that showed a ten-fold increase in patients waiting for all treatments in the Welsh NHS compared to September 2019.

2. Further notes the warning from leading cancer experts and charities that 2,000 people could die because of COVID-related delays in the Welsh NHS.

3. Recognises the hard work, dedication and commitment of staff in the healthcare sector supporting patients not just with coronavirus but with a variety of conditions.

4. Regrets that the Minister for Health and Social Services has estimated that it would take a full parliamentary term to resume normal services and that it would be foolish to have a plan in place to tackle the waiting list backlog.

5. Calls on the Welsh Government to:

a) immediately boost the use of COVID-free hospitals, as recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine;

b) conduct an urgent review into how hospital patients in Wales are being discharged during the pandemic and implement those findings to tackle bottlenecks in hospitals, as recommended by the Royal College of Physicians;

c) significantly improve its testing regime to ramp up capacity and ensure that COVID-19 is isolated and kept out of Welsh hospitals;

d) introduce a cancer recovery plan, as seen elsewhere across the UK, and increase investment in the roll-out of rapid diagnostic centres across Wales; and

e) implement a nationwide campaign to ensure that people who suspect they have cancer, or need to go to hospital in an emergency, continue to do so.