Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:45 pm on 28 September 2021.

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Photo of Paul Davies Paul Davies Conservative 1:45, 28 September 2021

Well, clearly, the MP for Cynon Valley disagrees with you, First Minister, and it's not hard to see how your colleague has reached the conclusion that you have no radical or progressive policies. Last week, people in Wales continued to wait for NHS treatments in a week when the worst-ever waiting performances were recorded by Welsh hospital A&E units. With rising waiting times across the country, NHS backlogs that could take years to clear, and now the military enlisted to support struggling ambulance services, our NHS is under severe pressure, and it seems there are no radical, progressive policies to tackle winter pressures this year, either. 

Last week, when questioned, you said that the Welsh Government's plan on winter pressures was just to update its COVID alert plan, but this is very different to the comments made by Dr Andrew Goodall, who told the Health and Social Care Committee that, and I quote,

'on the winter side, just to bring together the range of different activities and the particular context at this stage, we will be ensuring that there is a very clear winter plan that is visible, that connects all of these things together, during October.'

So, which is it, First Minister? Will the Welsh Government be bringing forward a specific plan on how it will tackle winter pressures in the NHS, or was the future Permanent Secretary right and you were wrong?