Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:15 pm on 11 October 2022.
Thank you. Well, as you know, we have modelled and we have looked at what could happen during this coming winter, and the health service is preparing for the models that we have seen, where we'll be likely to see a peak, according to the modelling, in December and January, so we do need to prepare for that, and that is the time, of course, not just for COVID issues, but that's when people need to take time off for Christmas and so on, and that's when it's likely that we'll see the impact of flu too. So, those issues are certainly going to have an impact on our ability to hit some of our targets, but that's why it's important that we do have this plan in place, so that people take the opportunity to be vaccinated, so that they can protect themselves.
The fact is that 1,000 people who should be working in the NHS today aren't able to work as a result of COVID. Now, that is going to have an impact on our ability. One of the things that we are doing to plug those gaps is to use agency nurses, which is difficult, and that increases the cost for us in terms of how much we spend on agency nurses. That's not something we want to do, but it is something that we need to do if we want to continue to try to hit the targets that we've set. It will be difficult to hit those targets that we've set for waiting lists, but I do think that it's very important that we do our level best to reach those targets, to reach that target, because what we're talking about here is people's lives, and people need to be seen. I'm certainly urging health boards to make sure this happens as soon as possible. I look forward tomorrow to having a cancer summit with the NHS in Wales.