4. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Services supporting people to recover from COVID-19

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:47 pm on 15 June 2021.

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Photo of Rhianon Passmore Rhianon Passmore Labour 4:47, 15 June 2021

I warmly welcome this statement this afternoon from the Minister for Health and Social Services, and the recognition of the innovative work of Aneurin Bevan health board that was mentioned earlier. The Office for National Statistics has estimated that more than 1 million people in Britain have so far suffered from long COVID, and The Sunday Times only this week christened the UK as the long COVID capital of the world. The Welsh Government investment of a £5 million recovery programme to help patients living with this condition is to be very much welcomed. In Islwyn during the recent election campaign, I met many people who had experienced and survived acute COVID, only now to face their own battles with long COVID. One such Islwyn resident, Kate Alderson, has told me of the debilitating fatigue that still endures months later. So, Minister, as our scientific knowledge of acute and long COVID grows every day, will you commit to regularly updating this Senedd on the condition? And with the vast majority of health and social care workers being female and the typical long COVID sufferer being a working-age woman, what action can the Welsh Government take to ensure that women are not disproportionately damaged by the consequences of suffering from long COVID? Thank you.