Accident and Emergency Departments

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:38 pm on 23 March 2022.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 2:38, 23 March 2022

Diolch yn fawr, Sam—thanks very much for that. And I'd like to join with you in thanking all of our NHS and, indeed, our care workers for the incredible work they've done over the past two years. And I think it is worth reflecting on the pressure that they've been under for that prolonged period.

Part of the issue that we have, of course, in Glangwili is actually the fact that we have trouble recruiting, and there is an over-reliance on agency and bank and overtime in terms of what happens in Glangwili. And that, of course, means that they have to pay more money, which pushes the health board into even more debt. So, all of those things are issues, and, of course, I guess that's one of the reasons why the health board is suggesting consolidating A&E into a new hospital, so that you can recruit easier. That is certainly something that they're suggesting and, obviously, that is something that my officials are working through at the moment.

I do think that there is a whole-system issue here. The fact that we have now introduced the real living wage, from April, and have established a bridge for those who are in the service already to get to that real living wage, with additional support, we hope will encourage people to stay in the service, so that we can get those people that you set out, who are in hospital, who shouldn't be there, who need to be discharged but there's nowhere for them to be discharged to because of the fragility of that system—. So, we do have to address that issue. We've started doing that through the real living wage. We have a care commission that I know Julie Morgan is working very closely with, but this is a whole-system issue and certainly something that I'll be bringing up with the chairs when I meet them tomorrow.