£800m to prepare NHS for winter’s Covid threat
ANEW £800m fund to help Wales’ NHS cope with the double threat of winter pressures and the coronavirus in the coming months has been announced today.
The “stabilisation package” from the Welsh Government is aimed at helping health services across the nation to continue to respond to Covid-19’s impact.
It is designed to help NHS organisations prepare for the anticipated challenges that winter will bring – responding to a potential second wave of the virus, alongside winter pressures, while continuing to increase access to essential services.
Welsh Government ministers warn of “the real possibility of further peaks during the autumn and winter months”.
The £800m sum allows a “strategic approach” to obtaining Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for both the health and social care sectors so a “buffer” of supplies can be established to respond to any second wave of infections.
The ambition is that it also creates a reliable supply of PPE for primary care providers – including GPs, dentists and optometrists. And the new funding will help deliver Wales’ largest-ever flu campaign, which was announced last month and will encourage more people than ever to take up the free flu vaccine programme in readiness for winter.
It will also target a faster turnaround of test results to support contact tracing, so Wales can respond quickly to contain any virus spread.
And it will aim to provide health boards with sufficient capacity to treat patients both through existing hospital sites and access to field hospitals as a contigency, if needed.
This £800m package takes the total
amount of Welsh Government Covid-19 support for NHS organisations to more than £1.3bn.
Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said: “We understand the growing financial pressures and challenges being faced across the public sector and we are doing all we can to alleviate these.
“I am confident that today’s announcement will provide our NHS with the stability it needs to respond to the pandemic.
“We are also continuing to work with local authorities to understand the considerable pressures they are facing and their priorities so that we can provide them with further support.” Health and Social Services Minister Vaughan Gething added: “Our health and social care services have faced unparalleled pressures in the fight against Covid-19.
“It is a testament to our dedicated NHS staff that Wales’ patients have continued to receive compassionate and professional care during this pandemic.
“Whilst our services rigorously prepare every year for winter pressures, 2020 may be unlike any other.
This £800m package will help with many aspects as we move into the next phase of the virus such as PPE supplies, testing and an ambitious flu vaccination programme.”
Shadow Minister for Health Andrew RT Davies said: “Our fantastic NHS staff deserve full credit for the exemplary work they have carried out, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, in delivering first-class care to patients, and today’s latest funding announcement will allow them to continue their work.
“The UK Conservative government has done everything in its power to equip the Welsh Labourled government with the necessary tools to help mitigate the effects of Covid-19 in Wales. And, ultimately, without the UK Government’s historic funding packages today’s announcement would not have been possible.
“This money needs to increase access to vital health provision which has been closed or greatly reduced since the start of the Covid19 outbreak.
“As we have seen with the number of cancer deaths, it is vital that these pathways to treatment are reopened as soon as possible to prevent as few premature deaths as possible.”
The announcement comes after Public Health Wales (PHW) confirmed yesterday that there was one new death following a positive laboratory test for Covid-19.
It means the overall number of deaths with lab-confirmed Covid-19 since the outbreak began has risen to 1,566. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which covers north Wales, recorded the solitary death.
There were no new deaths reported by Public Health Wales on 13 occasions in July (July 6, 10, 12, 13, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27 and 28), and once this month on August 3.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean no-one died with the virus on those specific dates as it can take several days for a death to be logged officially.
So-called “true” death figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which include deaths in all places and when coronavirus is only suspected, found that 2,503 had died with coronavirus in Wales up to July 24.
The ONS said there were seven deaths involving Covid-19 in the week ending July 24, down from 11 the week before. This is the lowest figure since the week ending March 20, when two deaths were recorded.
Meanwhile, PHW said yesterday that the number of lab-confirmed positive cases of coronavirus in Wales had increased by 22 to bring the total to 17,361.
Flintshire recorded the most positive cases with four, followed by Conwy, Vale of Glamorgan and RCT with three. Ceredigion had two new cases, while Monmouthshire, Newport, Gwynedd, Wrexham, Cardiff, Powys and Neath Port Talbot had one. All other local authorities had no new cases. Despite testing capacity standing at more than 15,000 each day in Wales, 4,661 took place on Monday.