The Care Sector

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:08 pm on 9 November 2021.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 2:08, 9 November 2021

On 28 April 2020, the UK Government announced that COVID testing would be extended to all care home staff and residents in England. That was not the case in Wales, with you, First Minister, saying you saw no value to providing tests to everybody in care homes at the time. That was a pivotal moment for Mr and Mrs Hough, who ran Gwastad Hall nursing home in Cefn-y-Bedd, Flintshire. It was not until 16 May 2020 that your then health Minister brought in blanket testing for staff and care home residents. Five days later, on 21 May, Mr Hough killed himself. Twelve of their residents had died in those first few months of the pandemic. His widow, Mrs Hough, said she believed her husband's distress at seeing the patients struggling led directly to his death, adding that her husband was a victim of COVID and that she wanted the Welsh Government held to account and wants answers. The chief executive of Care Forum Wales said the issues they encountered were not atypical. How, therefore, do you justify to care sector professionals like Mrs Hough your continued rejection of their call for a Wales-specific public inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic?