Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:54 pm on 25 January 2022.
First Minister, clearly this report is another reason why a Wales-wide COVID inquiry is needed, so that issues like this can be scrutinised fully and questions answered over how these failings came to be. Patients have the right to feel safe in a hospital setting, and yet, as this report shows, there are risks of cross-infections, and in some cases patients were at risk. According to recent figures, nearly a quarter of people who died from coronavirus in Wales were infected in hospital, and despite Ministers consistently telling us they were learning lessons and implementing stronger protocols, the Prince Charles report shows that patients are still being put at risk. It's now come to light, thanks to the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Group—Cymru, that there was a Welsh Government 'lessons learned' report following the SARS outbreak in 2004, where the Welsh Government committed to an audit and allocation of funding to rectify the lack of isolation facilities. So, First Minister, did that audit happen, and did Welsh hospitals receive the right support to modernise their settings to fight airborne viruses between 2004 and the start of the COVID pandemic? If that is the case, then why are some health boards telling families that a lack of isolation facilities compromised their ability to keep patients safe? And given the calls now for a Wales-wide inquiry from organisations, from politicians and from families across Wales, what will it finally take for the Welsh Government to agree to a Wales-wide inquiry, so that families can get justice and we can finally get answers in relation to decisions taken here in Wales by your Government?