Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:34 pm on 19 May 2021.
Thank so much, Presiding Officer. I'd like to begin by congratulating you and our First Minister on returning and resuming your roles in the new session here of 2021.
Now, as I'm sure you can all appreciate, we are all aware of the great debt that we owe to front-line workers of the national health service in Wales, who've had to cope with the tremendous pressure they've been subjected to down to the pandemic. Last year, the Royal College of Nursing ran a survey looking at the impact of the pandemic on front-line staff. It found that more than three quarters of Welsh members who took part reported increased stress, and more than half were worried about their mental health. Sadly, this pressure on NHS staff is unlikely to reduce in the short term as there are now more than 0.5 million people in Wales who are waiting for treatment on NHS waiting lists—a rise of 19 per cent in a year. Of these, 218,000 people have been waiting for more than nine months for treatment. I'd like to ask you, First Minister, what positive action is your Government taking to relieve the pressure on front-line NHS staff as restrictions are lifted. And I know you and many of my honourable colleagues have mentioned the Indian variant, the Brazilian variant and the South African variant, but I'd like to know, as deaths from COVID are rising here in Wales, as per the statement you kindly shared with us today, the Indian variant is actually on the rise. So, what study is being done by the Welsh Government of the potential impact of this new variant and other subsequent variants too? Thank you.