There are 1,000 NHS staff currently off work due to Covid according to Mark Drakeford.
The First Minister made the comments in Plenary on the afternoon of September 20. Covid rates are currently incredibly low having been falling constantly in Wales since the end of June according to the ONS infection survey. It is now the lowest it has been for more than a year. Despite this fall, the virus is still having an impact on a Welsh health service which is struggling to work through the monstrous backlog of procedures.
Drakeford was asked by Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies about people waiting for procedures. He said: "We have heard from you in July that there was an orthopaedic summit held by the Minister in August, but we've had no update as to any positives that might have emerged from that summit. Could you now update us as to what exactly has happened from that summit and what we might see as we go into the winter months so that people can have confidence that they will get the procedures that they require?"
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In response Mr Drakeford said that the leader of the opposition was "right to draw attention to the pressures that the health service is under and the very hard work that is going on to try and recover the ground that was lost during the pandemic" To illustrate the challenge the virus is still facing the First Minister said: "1,000 staff in the NHS in Wales are not in work today either because they have Covid themselves or they've been in direct contact with somebody who has. So, a huge amount of work is going on inside the health service to try and recover ground and to be able to deal with people whose operations are outstanding. The context remains a challenging one."
Speaking following his questions Mr Davies said: “Labour cannot give a straight answer when it comes to their record on the NHS. When asked about the results of a health summit from the summer, Mark Drakeford deferred the answer to a minister for another time. On regional surgical hubs, we learned there aren’t any. On a new second offer scheme, there were excuses. Addressing the NHS treatment backlog is not easy, but the people of Wales deserve the same level of leadership on this as elsewhere in the UK – for example, in England, two-year waits have been eliminated and 50 surgical hubs are being added to the 91 already in place.
“Earlier today, the Labour Government released a statement about a duty of candour in the NHS – maybe it should practice what it preaches and admit it is not adopting viable solutions to the record-long waiting lists.”
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