6. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: National Immunisation Programme for Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:54 pm on 27 June 2023.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 4:54, 27 June 2023

(Translated)

Thank you very much. I want to thank you not only for the joke, that was quite good, fair play to you, but also for the fact that you know what shingles is in Welsh. That was fairly impressive, I have to say.

In terms of misinformation, I do think that this is a serious subject. It does affect people, some people listen to the nonsense they see online in particular. That's why it's important that people can go to websites and other places where they can have confidence that the information that they are getting is factual, scientific information that they can rely on. That's why I think there is a prominent role, not only for the app, but also for the NHS locally in ensuring that people have that confidence. People still have a lot of confidence in the NHS and the people who lead the NHS.

So, in terms of the centralisation of procurement, it's clear to me that if you are going to negotiate a price, you're going to have a better price if you're negotiating for 3.1 million people compared with 30,000 people. So, it makes sense for many reasons. But this isn't just about money. What we've learned from the pandemic is that we had someone in the Welsh Government who knew exactly how many vials were available in every part of Wales, and having that overview meant that we could move things around the system when we needed to do that. So, I do see that that does mean that you take some power away from the local GPs, but I think that the provision on the whole for Wales, well, it does make sense for us to follow that path.

In terms of the flu and what's happening next year, what we know is that people, for example, who are over 50 years of age and under 65, that the risk of contracting flu is less, or that the impact of the flu on them will be lower. Evidently, money is tight at the present, and we have to consider these things, and we have to ensure that we do get value for money. If there was more funding, then we would come to a different decision, but what we do know is that we have to focus the support that we provide on those who are most vulnerable.

Regarding the digital infrastructure, we are doing a lot to transform our digital systems in the NHS. I'd like to do a lot more if I had more funding. I think it's an area where we would get great value for money, but there are problems, evidently, in financial terms at present, so what we're trying to do is ensure that the computer systems are in place, and our digital team is spending a lot of time ensuring that that is in the right place.