“COVID regulations might have come to an end, but the challenges that face our NHS have not”

Responding to the news that the last remaining COVID regulations are set to be removed from Monday 30 May 2022, Plaid Cymru spokesperson for health and care, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said,

“Emergency COVID regulations might have come to an end, but the challenges that face our NHS have not – indeed, they were the same challenges that were there before the pandemic. We owe it to our hard-working staff to make sure that plans for NHS recovery don’t just try to take us back to where things were at the start of the pandemic, but to bring our health service on to a more sustainable footing, by reducing waiting times, speeding up the patient journey, and joining up health with social care.”

Commenting on the removal of the mandating of wearing masks in health and care settings, Mr ap Iorwerth said:

“I share the nervousness among health professionals about the removal of the need to wear masks in health and care settings, because of vulnerability of so many in the sector. Welsh Government must make sure they monitor very carefully the extent to which people follow the guidance for people to continue wearing them in these settings.”