We must not underestimate the scale of the challenge ahead
Responding to the latest NHS Wales performance figures and funding announcement from Welsh Government, Darren Hughes, director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, said:
“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the health and care system is well-documented and there’s no doubt that demand is high across the whole system.
“Leaders across the Welsh NHS are fully aware that there are a high volume of patients waiting to start treatment, but staff across the board are doing all they can to provide the best care to patients.
“We welcome the additional £100 million investment announced by the Welsh Government to help with the health and care system’s recovery from the Covid pandemic. This will help the NHS in Wales to tackle waiting lists and increase capacity as we focus on resuming planned care once more.
“The latest statistics show that although the general picture remains serious, we’re seeing green shoots in some areas where performance is starting to improve again.
“Over the last 15 months we’ve seen significant innovation and partnership working to improve services and respond to the pandemic. We need to capitalise on this opportunity to learn from new ways of working to transform services for the better across health and care.
“There’s no doubt that there’s a long way to go. It will take the NHS time to recover and we must not underestimate the scale of the challenge ahead and the support that staff working in health and care will require.”
