Health

‘We deserve the truth’: Bereaved families demand Wales-specific Covid-19 inquiry

Published

3 months ago

December 10, 2025

BEREAVED families have issued a powerful plea for a Wales Covid-19 inquiry, warning the UK-wide process is fundamentally incapable of properly scrutinising devolved decisions.

Sam Smith-Higgins, who co-leads the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group, told the Senedd’s public accounts committee on Wednesday December 10 that lessons learned from the national trauma must command public confidence.

“Families in Wales deserve more than high-level commentary,” she said. “We deserve a full explanation – one rooted in the Welsh context and accountable to the Welsh public.”

Anna-Louise Marsh-Rees, who co-leads the group, said Wales must learn from the tragedy rather than seek to bury it, telling the committee a process designed for Westminster cannot uncover the “simple truth” of Welsh failures.

“We cannot patch over the gaps, we can’t pretend minimal scrutiny of devolved issues is enough,” she said. “Wales needs a Wales inquiry – not to score political points… but because thousands of lives were lost in circumstances that were avoidable.”

Ms Marsh-Rees said almost every major failing in Wales during the pandemic can be traced to a lack of preparedness.

She warned Welsh ministers had “no grip” on the risk, leaving the nation with no meaningful testing capability and a “dangerously inadequate” PPE stockpile when the virus arrived.

“When we talk about preparedness, we don’t mean abstract conversations about civil contingency structures – we mean something much more basic and concrete,” she said.

“Our hospital and care home estates were not fit to prevent transmission, with poor ventilation, limited isolation facilities and ageing buildings. Even vaccinations were compromised because of a failure to prep for the known requirement of cold storage.”

She added: “These aren’t minor administrative issues. They cost lives.”

The committee heard harrowing testimony that policy decisions treated older and vulnerable people as “expendable”, turning care homes into the “epicentre of tragedy”.

Ms Marsh-Rees criticised the decision to delay care home vaccinations for four critical weeks, against expert advice, and the discharge of Covid-positive patients back into care.

“In Wales many thousands of people were affected in the very places they expected to be safe: hospitals, care homes,” she said. “Our dads were two of these.”

The campaigners warned that nearly six years on, there is still “no meaningful improvement”, fuelling fears that the system remains vulnerable.

“Preparedness failed us once,” Ms Marsh-Rees said. “The greatest fear of our bereaved families is that it will fail Wales again.”

Ms Smith-Higgins warned the Senedd’s current approach – examining gaps in the UK inquiry – is not fit for purpose and will not work for Wales.

She said: “The UK inquiry leaves more gaps than substance when it comes to Wales… despite the enormous scale of the UK inquiry, Welsh issues have only been lightly touched.”

Ms Marsh-Rees said Wales entered the pandemic with almost no testing capacity, criticising Welsh ministers for suggesting “the science” did not support asymptomatic testing.

She told the committee: “We now know these statements were simply not true. The real reason was that Wales could not test – not that testing had no value.

“This misrepresentation must be scrutinised; if leaders will not acknowledge past mistakes, how can Wales hope to reform them?”

Ms Marsh-Rees told Senedd Members: “Without a Wales inquiry, these appalling failures and decisions will never be properly scrutinised.”

Ms Smith-Higgins explained that much of the evidence has already been gathered through the UK process as she warned of the consequences of no Wales-specific inquiry.

“Welsh ministerial decision-making will not receive meaningful examination,” she said, accusing Labour of failing to listen to the people by resisting an independent inquiry.

“The real reasons behind testing delays, PPE shortages and false public statements that were made will not be uncovered. The failures of infection, prevention and control in hospitals and care homes will not be addressed.

“The concerns about destroyed messages, missing records and a lack of candour will never be resolved. And, crucially, we will fail to understand why Wales had the highest mortality rate in the UK between August and December 2020.”

First Minister Eluned Morgan is expected to give evidence to the committee in January.

Health

Welsh Ambulance Service to host bi-monthly Board meeting

Published

1 day ago

March 13, 2026

Tom Sinclair

THE WELSH AMBULANCE SERVICE is preparing to host its bi-monthly Board meeting – and the public are invited.

Join the meeting on Thursday 26 March via Microsoft Teams to hear senior leaders cover a full agenda, including approval of the Integrated Medium-Term Plan for 2026-29, which outlines what the organisation will prioritise and deliver, how it will use its resources and how it will continue to improve care for the people of Wales over the next three years.

Board members will approve the initial revenue budget for the year ahead and receive an update on current financial performance.

The Board will also hear from Mr Clarke from Cwmbran, who describes an experience of trying to access help via 999 for his late father who was terminally ill.

There will also be an opportunity to pose a question to the Board.

Chair Colin Dennis said: “Board meetings give you the opportunity to really get to know our ambulance service, with a clear view of how important decisions are shaped and the processes behind them.

“They also create a forum to hear directly about ongoing work, explore how we can strengthen support for the Trust’s staff and patients, and connect with the people responsible for shaping those decisions.”

Click here to watch the Board meeting on Thursday 26 March 2026 from 9.30am.

This link will be active from 10 minutes before the meeting starts.

To pre-submit a question, please email [email protected] by no later than Wednesday 25 March 2026.An agenda will be available on the Trust’s website in the days prior to the meeting.

Health

Pharmacies carry out record number of consultations for common health issues

Published

1 day ago

March 13, 2026

Tom Sinclair

PHARMACIES across Wales carried out more than 600,000 clinical consultations for a wide range of common health issues over the last twelve months, according to the latest community pharmacy services statistics.

Almost 346,000 people used the Common Ailments Service, which offers free advice and treatment for twenty-seven common conditions and is available in ninety-nine per cent of pharmacies across Wales.

Figures covering April 2024 to March 2025 show that more than 462,000 Common Ailments Service consultations took place during the period – the highest number ever recorded.

The most frequent reasons people sought help from their local pharmacy included sore throats, hay fever, conjunctivitis and dermatitis.

Pharmacies also carried out more than 53,000 consultations specifically for sore throat treatment, around 33,000 consultations for contraception advice and treatment, and over 121,000 consultations to provide emergency supplies of medicines.

During those emergency consultations pharmacists issued more than 189,000 prescription-only medicines to patients who had run out of medication and were unable to obtain a new prescription in time.

In addition to these consultations, pharmacies across Wales dispensed more than eighty million prescription items over the same twelve-month period.

The Common Ailments Service allows people to receive treatment closer to home while helping free up GP appointments for patients with more complex or urgent medical needs.

Health Secretary Jeremy Miles said: “Community pharmacies play a vital role in providing healthcare across Wales.

“Nearly half a million consultations in a single year shows just how much people value being able to walk into their local pharmacy and get the help they need quickly, without having to wait for a GP appointment.

“We are working to ensure more people can receive convenient care closer to home, and expanding access to these services is a key part of that.

“The right care, in the right place, at the right time — that is what people in Wales want, and what our pharmacies are delivering.”

Community

Lessons from COVID-19 highlight need to strengthen voluntary sector resilience

Published

1 day ago

March 13, 2026

Tom Sinclair

A NEW report has urged the Welsh Government to work more closely with voluntary organisations to ensure communities are better prepared for future emergencies.

The call comes from the Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, which examined how lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic have shaped Wales’ current emergency planning.

The report highlights the crucial role played by voluntary groups during the pandemic, particularly in supporting vulnerable people and responding quickly to rising community needs.

Clair Swales, Chief Executive of the Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations (PAVO), welcomed the committee’s findings and its recommendation that government bodies strengthen collaboration with the voluntary sector and commissioning organisations.

The recommendation includes making greater use of long-term funding arrangements to support infrastructure investment and improve the sector’s ability to respond to sudden surges in demand during emergencies.

Giving evidence to the committee last November, Swales warned that continued financial pressures across the sector could weaken its ability to respond effectively in future crises.

She said: “If I was asked to bring the third sector together to respond to an emergency at this moment, I could. However, future involvement may become more challenging as the sector continues to face significant financial and capacity pressures.”

The committee’s report, published on Tuesday (Mar 11), explored how the Welsh Government and public bodies responded to the pandemic and what improvements have been made since.

It also considered findings from Module 1 of the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, which examined resilience and preparedness across the UK.

Swales said the report recognises that the work carried out by voluntary organisations during the pandemic came at a significant cost to the sector.

She added: “Evidence from a number of voluntary organisations shows the sector is facing considerable funding and resource challenges.

“We will continue to work with commissioners and the Powys third sector to maximise opportunities, represent the sector’s voice in policy and investment discussions, and ensure rural communities are considered when funding and commissioning services.”