4. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: The Health and Social Care Winter Protection Plan 2021-22

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:02 pm on 19 October 2021.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 4:02, 19 October 2021

Thanks very much, Gareth. Can I assure you that we are speaking very regularly to representatives from the independent care sector as well? We're very aware of the kind of pressures that they're working under at the moment.

I think it probably is worth underlining here once again the fact that, actually, part of the reason for the pressure that we're under at the moment is because so many of our social care workers were EU nationals and they've gone home. So, for example—. The numbers don't sound very good if you take it as a percentage—about 6 or 7 per cent of them were European citizens—but actually that amounts to around 2,000 to 3,000 care workers, which, if you think about that, is a huge number of people that we're now missing from our system. So, I do think that we can't get away from the fact that, actually, Brexit has been a large part of the issue here.

Now, when you talk about care workers not being vaccinated, I'm really delighted to report that, actually, there are very few care workers in Wales who haven't been vaccinated, and the numbers are incredibly high in Wales. If there are people who haven't been vaccinated, it's usually because there's actually a flow through the system—they've either just come in, or they're just about to leave, so they've had their first jab and then they've left. So, there is quite a big turnover, as you're aware, in the care system, and that goes some way to explaining those very few care workers who haven't been vaccinated, which is why we haven't had to go down the route that they've gone down in England, putting even more pressure on their care services.

In relation to flu, of course those people who are vulnerable who work in those care sectors, they will be eligible for that flu jab as well.