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- 660,000 people in Wales waiting for either treatment or diagnosis, with 168,000 waiting longer than 36 weeks for treatment.
- Concerns grow during the Covid-19 pandemic over missed cancers and an increase in non-Covid related deaths.
- Health Minister accepts the scale of the challenge but suggests Covid-lite hospitals – to deal with treatment and diagnosis backlogs – would be difficult to deliver.
The Motion
The Senedd:
- Notes the BBC Wales Investigates report that showed a ten-fold increase in patients waiting for all treatments in the Welsh NHS compared to September 2019 and further notes warnings from leading cancer experts and charities that 2,000 people could die because of Covid-related NHS delays.
- Recognises the hard work, dedication and commitment of staff in the healthcare sector supporting patients not just with coronavirus but with a variety of conditions.
- Regrets that the Health Minister estimates it would take a full parliamentary term to resume normal services.
- Calls on the Welsh Government to: immediately boost the use of Covid-free hospitals; conduct an urgent review into how hospital patients in Wales are being discharged during the pandemic; significantly improve Covid-19 testing and ensure it’s kept out of Welsh hospitals; introduce a cancer recovery plan and increase investment in the roll-out of rapid diagnostic centres; implement a nationwide campaign to ensure people who suspect they have cancer, or need to go to hospital in an emergency, continue to do so.
Shadow Health Minister, Andrew RT Davies MS (Con, South Wales Central), asked members to reflect on the recently-released waiting time statistics from the Welsh Government; 36-week waiting times rose by 597% and 517,000 patients in Wales were now on some kind of waiting list for treatment. Additionally, 143,000 patients are on diagnostic waiting lists.
The NHS needed new ways of working to address these lists, such as those outlined in the motion.
Plaid Cymru agreed with the underlying intentions of the motion if disagreeing with some of the wording. Rhun ap Iorwerth MS (Plaid, Ynys Môn) said waiting times were a problem before the pandemic and it’s regrettable the Welsh Government didn’t recognise that in their amendments to the motion. It was important Covid-lite areas in hospitals were set up to deal with backlogs.
Janet Finch-Saunders MS (Con, Aberconwy) said a 20% drop in people being treated for heart attacks in Welsh hospitals may have contributed to a rise in non-Covid related deaths. However, Dr Dai Lloyd MS (Plaid, South Wales West) said the NHS had to get on top of Covid-19 first and staff were already working above and beyond to deal with that.
Meanwhile, Dr Hefin David MS (Lab, Caerphilly) was hopeful that the establishment of cancer centres of excellence – such as a breast cancer centre at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr – will increase the range and speed of diagnosis and treatment. However, the Health Minister needed to prove that the single cancer treatment pathway introduced in 2018 was having a positive impact.
Health Minister, Vaughan Gething (Lab, Cardiff S. & Penarth), accepted that the recent waiting times didn’t make for good reading, but this backlog was going to occur everywhere.
He repeated the message that patients shouldn’t be put off seeking help if they’re showing symptoms of cancer or any other serious condition. While Covid-free or Covid-lite hospitals sounds like a good idea, it was difficult to deliver due to geography, while facilities for elective treatments (such as operating theatres and post-operative care) can’t be delivered in field hospitals.
Vote
The Welsh Government-backed amendments acknowledged the scale of the problem but that it’s not exclusive to Wales. Their amendments also supported the NHS using all resources it can to deliver “safe, quality care” for Covid and non-Covid patients, with further work on rapid cancer diagnostics. This was approved by 29-22 with 2 abstentions.