Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:43 pm on 7 July 2021.
Thank you for your answer, Minister. I appreciate what you've said. I think, from my perspective, we as Welsh Conservatives were raising deep concerns about the level of hospital-acquired infections in Wales from last summer onwards. There was a sense, I feel, that the Welsh Government was shrugging its shoulders at the time, with your predecessor saying that lessons had been learnt. [Interruption.] I can hear the former health Minister; he should be listening to what I'm saying rather than dismissing what I'm saying. But what I would say to you, Minister, is that there was a great focus last year on community transmission—and I wouldn't dismiss that; that is correct, there should be that focus—but there wasn't that focus last summer and last year in terms of infection in hospital settings.
Now, we now know that one in four deaths across Wales were probably or definitely as a direct result of ward-to-ward transmission. In Hywel Dda itself, it's one in three deaths. That's significant, and I'm sure, Minister, you wouldn't disagree how significant those figures are. That's 1,000 people who have sadly died, with countless loved ones bereaved, when this could have been avoided to a large extent, or to some extent, if the Welsh Government had acted differently. Now, a group of 35 clinicians have also written to the Welsh Government calling for a Welsh public inquiry, and they believe that one of the questions for that investigation should be how healthcare organisations can be guided to reduce this death rate. This is a specific Wales issue, so will you and the First Minister heed the growing concerns and calls, and agree to a public inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales? You yourself said in your answer that you're learning as you go along. That's the right approach, but that's surely a reason why we need a public inquiry to properly scrutinise the process.