Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:09 pm on 30 March 2022.
Diolch yn fawr. Of course there were lessons to be learnt from the opening of the Grange. We opened it because, frankly, we were in the middle of a pandemic and we needed all the help that we could get. So, it was absolutely the right thing to do, but obviously it meant that we didn't have time to do the preparations that we would have done had we not been in that situation. I'm very pleased to say that the Royal College of Physicians made a visit to the Grange University Hospital a while ago. They were quite critical, frankly, of the services there, but they have now produced a follow-up review that's been published today, and they are actually endorsing a lot of the actions that have been undertaken by the health board. So, I'm very pleased to see that.
What else can we do to help? Well, frankly, we can all help in these circumstances. We are in a situation where we all need to see if there's anything more we can do as citizens. Our priority, of course, is to ensure the safe and efficient delivery of healthcare services to anyone, but I would appeal to members of the public: if you are able to help with the discharge of your family from hospital if they are ready to be discharged, then please help us out and come and help us to discharge them from hospital and give them that support, so that we can get more urgent cases into the hospital at this extreme time.