Written question WQ82949

The Academy of Medical Science’s report on preparations for winter 2021-22, is comprehensive, emphasising that despite the successful vaccination campaign and easing of restrictions across the UK, the pandemic is not over. It highlights several key priorities for the winter and outlines key challenges that will be faced by the UK this winter and beyond. These challenges include:

· A resurgence of respiratory diseases such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and influenza in addition to Covid-19;

· Wider health and wellbeing impacts of the pandemic;

· Continued disruption to health and social care deliver including managing the backlog of treatment and diagnosis built up over the pandemic, incorporating infection prevention measures and the financial precariousness of social care, including the risk of staff burnout and fatigue compounding issues of staff capacity and vacancies;

· Added uncertainties around the duration of post-vaccination immunity in different groups, the possibility of additional variants of concern that may have greater vaccine escape are also highlighted.

The Technical Advisory Group are currently considering the report and preparing a paper to reflect on the issues raised from a Wales perspective. Their report will make recommendations relevant to Winter 21-22, I will send you a copy of their report once it has been published.

Health boards and NHS Trusts in Wales have recently submitted their annual plans for the 2021-22 period. These plans outline how they will deliver services throughout the year, including the winter period and the contingencies they will put in place. Officials are currently evaluating the plans and will continue to work closely with our health and social services as they continue to implement their plans on both COVID and non-COVID work.

In March, we published Health and Social Care in Wales COVID-19: Looking Forward, our ambitious but realistic approach to building back our health and care system in Wales, supported by £100 million of additional funding. Health boards have received a share of this funding and will be using it to support delivery across a number of fronts, including primary care, community care and secondary care. This funding will help to increase capacity, through insourcing and outsourcing activity and further implementation of actions that were put in place during the pandemic, such as virtual appointments.

I expect all organisations to maintain regular communication with their patients to keep them updated on what is happening with their care and treatment.

I met with members of the Emergency Ambulance Services Committee (EASC), including Chief Executives of all seven health boards and the Welsh Ambulance Services Trust, as part of an exceptional meeting of the committee earlier this week. At this meeting, I made clear my expectations for radical and rapid action to improve ambulance service delivery in anticipation of a particularly challenging winter. I have tasked the committee to rapidly develop a clear, time-bound plan which sets out what actions will be delivered and by when, to better manage 999 demand in the community, increase capacity, improve responsiveness to people with time-sensitive complaints and enables rapid improvement in ambulance patient handover.

We are also targeting additional funding at new models of care to enable people with urgent or emergency care needs to access the right care, in the right place, first time. This includes investment in 111 First, where clinicians and professionals can assess patients over the telephone and signpost them to the right place, based on their need. This may be an ‘urgent primary care centre’ model or a ‘same day emergency care’ service, both of which will receive targeted funding for accelerated development. These new models should also add value by reducing demand on in-hours GMS services and Emergency Departments, freeing staff up to assess and treat people with complex and emergency care needs respectively. We have recently allocated £6,183,126 to Health Boards to support the development of their urgent primary care centre work.