6. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:07 pm on 12 October 2021.

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Photo of Russell George Russell George Conservative 5:07, 12 October 2021

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I thank the Minister for her statement today, and can I also align myself to the Minister's comments in regard to mental health and the important agenda in that regard as well?

Minister, you mentioned your winter plan. I've mentioned a number of times previously that we need to include diagnosis centres, and I wonder if you could confirm whether that will be included in your plan next week. I wonder what efforts you're also making to ensure that investment and resource sharing is provided to primary care to release pressure from GPs and, ultimately, emergency services. How are you also addressing Healthcare Inspectorate Wales's report into ambulance services?

I will raise one area that is not mentioned in your statement, that is absent from the statement today, and this is the response to this Chamber about the UK Parliament Health and Social Care Committee's report into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. This report is almost exclusively centred around the UK Government's response, mentioning Wales only nine times, but it demonstrates, in my view, the urgency of the need for a Wales-specific inquiry. Throughout the pandemic, the First Minister has repeatedly said that Wales was doing things differently. You yourself mentioned the same today in respect of the very report I've just mentioned. So, I will ask: will you make a comment today to the Chamber about a Wales-specific inquiry in the context of what I've just said and this report today?

Your Government's decisions, good or bad, have decided the outcome of the pandemic. In relation to my next question, I'll raise a few points here. Wales has the highest death rate across the UK in terms of COVID-19 in terms of the population. The First Minister actually said that he saw no value in testing care homes a full two weeks after the UK Government significantly expanded their testing regime. The then health Minister said:

'I don’t understand the rationale in terms of how…it saves more lives for the way that the testing policy has been changed in England'.

The First Minister then said that face coverings were not a silver bullet, nearly two months after the UK Government introduced mandatory face masks. And finally, the previous health Minister was charged with reducing hospital-acquired infections going through our hospitals last winter, saying that lessons had been learned throughout, and we ended up with nearly a quarter of deaths from COVID picked up from infections in hospitals. These issues here are as a result of Wales doing things differently. There will be good, there will be bad things in terms of Wales doing things differently. But of the areas I've specifically mentioned that I have raised, do you think that they would be adequately addressed in a UK-wide public inquiry? 

Also, I think your Government needs to learn lessons from the pandemic, as indeed all Government across the UK, of course, need to do. But the Westminster committee raised a very pertinent but valid point, I think, for the Welsh Government, and I quote here:

'The fact that the UK approach reflected a consensus between official scientific advisers and the Government indicates a degree of groupthink that was present at the time which meant we were not as open to approaches being taken elsewhere as we should have been.'

So, not open to other opinions. We've heard again today from yourself and the First Minister that Wales was following the science. Was the Government wrong to take this approach? And the final—[Interruption.] Well, that's a question that is a valid question to be asked. This is a question that's put forward by a cross—[Interruption.] I can see the Minister laughing. I'm sorry, but this was a question raised by a Westminster inquiry of all parties. I think it's a valid question to ask. I'm not making a suggestion; I'm asking that question that I think need to be addressed today.

Finally, Minister, you also mentioned COVID passports. I've been contacted by the National Autistic Society, and they've raised quite important points regarding COVID passes. People with disabilities such as autism are at risk of being discriminated against is the charge that they make, due to being unable to be vaccinated or tested due to behavioural changes or sensory difficulties, and this can cause, of course, as you'll understand, stress if people in those groups think they're being excluded. Routine, of course, is very important for people particularly in that group as well. So, will there be exemptions for people who are unable to vaccinated or tested for medical reasons, as is the case in Scotland, and if not, how do you plan to cater for these specific groups of people, Minister?