Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:17 pm on 30 March 2022.
Minister, since the Grange opened, it's been plagued with overcrowding and long waits, and, as we've been hearing, this isn't fair to patients or staff. The fact that there were 14-hour waits in A&E last night is indicative of a serious problem. I know, last October—you've been referring to the fact that there were reports of trainee doctors and consultants being scared to go into work, which the Royal College of Physicians was reporting. When other hospitals like the miners' hospital in Caerphilly closed, patients were promised that there would be no disruption to their care, but overcentralisation of services is leading to just that. So, we have staff who are, at times, near breaking point, and patients who aren't getting the care they need.
But, Minister, as well as what you're saying that the Government obviously will be doing to change this, you've just said that we all know someone who is suffering with COVID at the moment. Now, I'm asking this sincerely, I'm not asking this glibly at all: do you really think that now is the time to remove legal requirements over self-isolation and COVID mask wearing in retail and transport? Won't more COVID cases make a dire situation even worse?