Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 1:57 pm on 20 January 2021.
Thank you. During the pandemic, the available capacity has reduced to enable appropriate social distancing and improved infection-prevention and control measures to be implemented. As I've stated previously on a number of occasions, these measures, and increased personal protective equipment usage and requirements, have significantly reduced throughput in our NHS. Health boards have concentrated on treating the most urgent patients and, unfortunately, this has resulted in significantly longer waits for some patients.