Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 3:03 pm on 1 December 2021.
Well, I think it's really important for us to understand that actually we've got a programme, and the programme, 'A Healthier Wales', is trying to make sure that people get support as close to home as possible, and ideally that would be in the home. So, that's where we need to be heading. I think we've also got to understand that, actually, the way we do health is changing all of the time. So, a few years ago, if you had a problem with your eyesight, for example, you'd have to go into hospital, have an operation, and you'd be there for days. Well, today, you can go in and leave on the same day. So, obviously, there is no need for beds for that kind of operation in future. So, technology has helped us to move things on.
I think it's really important also for us to understand that, actually, if we can, we want to get people out of hospital as quickly as possible. The next question you're going to ask me is why we've got so many infections in hospitals. I don't want people in hospital. I'd like to get them home as soon as we can. So, that is the answer—we absolutely need to provide the care we can as much as we can at home.
Now, at the moment, we obviously are in a situation where we're stretched. The fact is that about 9 per cent of the hospital beds in Wales at the moment are taken up with COVID patients, many of whom have not had the vaccine. And I do think it's really important that the people of Wales are listening to this, particularly the people who haven't taken up that opportunity. You are taking up a bed that could have been avoided. There are people waiting in pain that could have had that bed, and it's really important that people understand their responsibility to the wider community to take up the opportunity to have the vaccination.