Janet Finch-Saunders AM: Llywydd. And, again, I would like to thank the Minister, Vaughan, for your statement and to acknowledge the considerable effort that you are trying to make to respond quickly to the ever-evolving COVID-19 crisis. Now, yesterday, you announced that Wales only had a few days of PPE stock available, and you'll recall that I wrote to you on 3 April, submitting a written Assembly question asking you to take urgent steps to ensure that adult and children's hospices have access to adequate personal protective equipment. Now, whilst I've still yet to receive a response, I do welcome the announcement that you've made of a three-month package of additional support worth up to £6.3 million for hospices in Wales, but can you clarify what steps you've also taken along those lines to ensure that, now that the funding's in place, they can actually access the PPE they require?
I appreciate that more than £62.2 million extra items of PPE have been sent to front-line workers, but I cannot overlook findings by the Royal College of Nursing that 54 per cent of those surveyed felt pressured to care for a COVID-19 patient without adequate protection and that 49 per cent of nursing staff treating COVID-19 patients not on ventilators said that they have not received training on what standard PPE to wear and when they should wear it. And I've also had that concern raised with me in the social care sector. I'm aware that the Welsh Government has been liaising with military planners regarding the demand for PPE, and, obviously, we hope this will assist in effective distribution, but will you clarify what steps are being taken to ensure that there's a fair distribution of PPE across the front line of health and social care in Wales?
You will be aware, Minister, that some companies have written to you and, notwithstanding what you've said about people fraudulently writing to you, people are offering up supplies, and they've had to approach me because they say that they haven't even received a response from you—so, a simple 'no', maybe. But leaving people in limbo when they read news reports that there's this panic on for PPE and when they're bothering to write to you and the finance Minister—to not receive a response isn't good enough.
Now, sadly, as of yesterday, it was estimated that 100 health and social care workers have died from COVID-19 in the UK. So, again, I would reiterate—I think it was Leanne Wood who asked about the families of the deceased here in Wales—whether grants will be available for those who have lost their lives to the global effort, in terms of funerals and things.
More worryingly, and this is really the thrust of all my questions, I've received a lot of concerns from the social care sector here about the non-testing of people leaving hospital, and social care homes being asked to take these people in. I have situations now where some social care providers are not prepared to do that for the lack of a test, because clearly, if they've got a COVID-free environment in a residential care home setting or nursing setting, that's how they want to keep it. But I would ask: how are these deaths being recorded? When you write to local authorities they say, 'We're not recording them. Care Inspectorate Wales are recording them.' You write to Care Inspectorate Wales and they say, 'We're not recording them.' So I would really like your clarity because the deaths in the social care sector across the UK have quadrupled, and it's a huge worry to those working in the social care sector, and it's a worry to me as a representative of those people and my constituents. I am being approached on social care matters very, very strongly at the moment.
So, I think I've asked you enough questions there, but I would like your comprehensive answers to those, which will provide me with some assurance. Thank you. Diolch.
Vaughan Gething AM: Thank you, Llywydd. I think there were eight separate points made. I indicated we had about a week's supply of fluid-resistant gowns, we expect to receive more this week, but I was trying to be open with people about the position, and indeed staff and the public.
On hospice care, I did announce extra money for the hospice sector. PPE guidance needs to be followed within that sector as well, and as I say, the equipment, the PPE that we're providing is for use across health and social care, and obviously used appropriately and where necessary within hospices.
On the RCN survey, the key point is that I expect people to take up those issues with employers. We have well-rehearsed social partnership meetings here in Wales, and pretty much an open-door approach. In fact, the RCN and other trade unions themselves take part in a weekly meeting with me so they can raise issues directly with me. It's important that those individual issues are taken up with employers in the first instance, and I expect those to be resolved.
I'm happy to confirm that distribution is fair across the country. No region is advantaged or disadvantaged about how we meet the need across the country, across both health and social care, and if people do have examples of concerns where companies say they haven't had a response, I'd be grateful if Members could provide the details so that I can follow them up.
On testing on residents due to return to the care home sector from hospital, that's a matter I've covered in both the testing review and, I'm sure you'll have heard, I covered it in my statement today.
When it comes to the recording of deaths in the community, including in the care home sector, we already have, through the Office for National Statistics, a regular report on those deaths and where they take place. There is a time lag between those, because they need to review all death certificates, of between seven and 14 days from the headline figures that are released each day by Public Health Wales. So, there is pretty clear and transparent reporting of all deaths across all sectors.
