‘The rising death toll is not all down to Covid infections’

Caroline Jones MS, leader of the Independent Alliance for Reform, on how the response to the pandemic has cost many extra lives

WHEN I first raised the issue of this new virus emerging in China and its potential to threaten these shores, I didn’t believe that nearly 11 months later we still wouldn’t have a grip on it.

As we enter December and the countdown to Christmas, deaths are once again spiking and the Welsh Government are talking about introducing tougher restrictions in the coming weeks.

But we now know that lockdowns haven’t worked and that the rising death toll is not all down to Covid infections.

Data from the Office of National Statistics show there were almost 14,000 deaths in the week ending November 13, which is nearly a fifth above normal levels. Yet only 2,838 of the deaths involved Covid. The sad fact is that many of these people died because our NHS was closed down in order to focus upon Covid-19.

According to the director of the Wales Cancer Network, Professor Tom Crosby, as many as 2,000 people could die because of Covid-related delays in the Welsh NHS.

Recently we learned about one of Wales’ disabled athletes who had an MRI scan for a brain tumour delayed by two months and, sadly, that individuals tumour is now inoperable. Had he received the scan on time perhaps his fast growing cancer could have been treated.

This devastating case is far from unique. My mailbag has been full of letters from constituents whose treatment has been postponed while the health service deals with the pandemic.

Swansea University researchers have been tracking the anonymised health records of the entire population of Wales during the pandemic.

Their findings show that in April surgery across Wales dropped to less than a quarter of usual output.

Overall, during the first lockdown around 62,000 fewer patients were operated on in Wales compared with the same period the previous year.

Sixty-two thousand people left in pain and suffering with no end in sight.

People haven’t stopped getting sick. Heart disease, dementia and cancer haven’t gone away.

Covid-19 isn’t Wales’ biggest killer. In fact it’s, ironically, the 19th most common cause of death in Wales.

This pandemic will result in a lot of indirect deaths, because our health service is not running at capacity.

We have to ensure that this winter our NHS doesn’t get shut down. The Welsh Government have to maximise the use of the Nightingale field hospitals.

It’s regrettable that the Welsh Government closed down almost 5,000 beds. We need every bed we can get to ensure Covid-19 does not overwhelm the health service. Normal, routine NHS services must continue throughout the remainder of the pandemic if we are to avoid excess deaths.

Government must do their bit, but so should all of us.

I urge everyone to get a flu vaccine. This will help relieve the pressure on our health service.

We must also not forget everything we have learned in the runup to Christmas. This year won’t be like previous years. We can’t have large parties or huge family get-togethers.

This Christmas will have to be a low-key affair, unfortunately.

Sadly, life can’t return to normal until we have a vaccine, which hopefully should be here soon. Provided the vaccines live up to their promise, we get enough doses and we can convince everyone to take it, next Christmas should be a return to normal.

Until then we have to keep wearing our masks, stay away from those not in our household and regularly wash our hands.

That is the best Christmas present we can give the NHS this year and the only way to avoid unnecessary deaths.