Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 24 March 2021.
On 13 March last year, you issued a directive to all health boards to postpone all non-urgent elective activity to allow them to prepare for the expected increase in workload in dealing with the pandemic. Those were the words of your Government to me in a letter. At the same time, the Welsh Government was clearing NHS beds by sending patients from hospitals into care homes without them being tested. It was a staggering thing to do. The results were fatal and brought great tragedy for many families. As of February 2021, your own Government statistics show that deaths in care homes since March 2020 are 43 per cent higher than the same period two years ago. Your party is now calling for an independent inquiry into the UK Government's handling of the pandemic in London. Propel, in 'Our Contract for Wales', has committed to implementing an independent inquiry in Wales on day one after the election in May. Given the outrageous numbers of avoidable deaths in care homes and your Government's actions having made the problem much worse, do you accept that there must be an independent inquiry into your own Government's handling of the COVID crisis?