Wales On Sunday

LONG WAIT FOR NHS OPERATIONS

- WILL HAYWARD Welsh affairs editor will.hayward@walesonlin­e.co.uk

THERE is a grim future for people waiting for NHS operations in Wales. The Welsh Government’s Health Minister Eluned Morgan has said it will take half a decade to get waiting lists back to pre-pandemic levels (which for many procedures was still a long wait).

In a wide-ranging interview with Wales On Sunday, Baroness Morgan said that it would not be until the end of this parliament­ary term (2026) that the backlog caused by Covid would be worked through.

She said. “I think my predecesso­r made it very clear even before the election that this would take the entirety of the Parliament before we can clear the backlog.

“It is going to be a long time and, of course, what we are trying to do now is put measures in place. Those people waiting for operations have already been contacted by the NHS and given advice on how to look after themselves during this time. Clearly though we are going to do everything within our powers to speed up this process. The NHS is not back to normal in terms of hospitals have to still be Covid-secure and be careful not to introduce Covid into hospitals.

“It is not easy especially when you have hospitals where you have accident and emergency next door to elective procedures. So the way our hospitals are built doesn’t make it easy to separate off elective surgeries which is what can be done in the larger cities in England.”

Last March then health minister Vaughan Gething cancelled all elective procedures in Wales to make space for the coming influx of Covid patients. Since then the Welsh NHS has not been able to get back on top of the backlog in part because it takes longer to do each procedure with the need for Covid secure working.

“We have asked the health boards to come forward with a proposal for how we can address the backlog and what measures they would like to put in place and they are being assessed now,” said Baroness Morgan.

“We’ve already put £100m into trying to tackle the backlog and there’ll be more money to come in.”

Despite the relatively low amount of Covid patients in Welsh hospitals, the NHS is still under pressure due to the lack of community carers. This has led to long waits in A&E and a crisis in the Welsh Ambulance Service.

Baroness Morgan said: “One of the key problems we have here is that there is massive pressure on the care workforce. It is difficult to get people through the front door because we can’t get them out the back door. We are having real trouble recruiting for care workers at the moment in our communitie­s.

“We are trying to put as much support in as possible. Brexit has made a difference as well so, for example, in Pembrokesh­ire there are lots of jobs available in hospitalit­y and tourism. So some of those care workers have gone to work in hospitalit­y and tourism so hopefully that situation will get better as the seasons change.

“There are real shortages of care workers so that is part of the reason why there is such an issue at the moment in terms of trying to get access to A&E because we can’t get people out through the backdoor.”

 ?? RUI VIEIRA ?? Health Minister Eluned Morgan has said it will take half a decade to get waiting lists back to pre-Covid levels
RUI VIEIRA Health Minister Eluned Morgan has said it will take half a decade to get waiting lists back to pre-Covid levels

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