6. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Ambulance response times

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:43 pm on 22 September 2021.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Gareth Davies Gareth Davies Conservative 4:43, 22 September 2021

Thank you very much for the intervention, Altaf. I agree with what you said in your part of the debate when you mentioned about on-site diagnostics and better training. I think that's something that's definitely worth looking at in the future.

The health Minister admitted recently that patients are unable to be discharged due to the brittle nature of the care sector. We know that there are at least 1,000 people in hospital who should be at home or in a care facility, but are unable to move on due to capacity issues. We are today debating a crisis in emergency care, but that crisis is as a direct result of a crisis in social care. We need thousands of extra care staff today to ensure that the sector is adequately funded. In addition to massive staff shortages, our care sector is short of hundreds of millions of pounds, yet Welsh Government have no plans to address the shortfalls. Without a properly resourced care sector, our hospitals will remain above capacity, which will lead to the horror stories that we heard today.

James Evans spoke about poor ambulance response times, NHS staff concerns, Scottish Government having to bring in the army, and Welsh Government responsibility, which is really key. Mabon ap Gwynfor noted some of the problems historically in north Wales, and some of the intricate details leading up to some of those problems, which he's quite right to say.

Janet Finch-Saunders gave some personal accounts of witnessing people in her constituency in Aberconwy having to wait too many hours for vital healthcare treatment. As a former employee of Llandudno hospital, I've seen that first hand on the front line in the NHS. Laura Anne Jones mentioned some of the wider impacts on education, as Peter Fox rightly brought up in yesterday's Plenary. And, as I mentioned, Altaf mentioned some on-site diagnostics and training and some of the COVID-19 consequentials that we've seen during the course of the pandemic that have been really pertinent over the last 18 months or so.  

So, I once again pay tribute to our outstanding Welsh ambulance service staff, and I ask Members to reward their dedication to their duty and their Herculean efforts to maintain emergency care by supporting the motion and rejecting the Welsh Government's amendment. Unless we take the actions outlined in our motion, the crisis in emergency care will become a catastrophe. Diolch yn fawr iawn.