North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has questioned the Welsh Health Minister today over calls for the Two Sisters plant in Llangefni to ‘remain closed until an independent health and safety audit is carried out and that all recommended safety measures are implemented’.
Taking part in this week’s virtual Plenary Meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood referred to the fact that 200 workers at the plant have now tested positive for Covid-19 - with all staff self-isolating during the two week closure. He also referred to the 97 workers who have tested positive at Rowan Foods in Wrexham.
Raising the issue with the Health Minister, Mr Isherwood asked him to respond to the statement by Ynys Môn MP Virginia Crosbie that although the initial closure of the Two Sisters plant in Llangefni is for two weeks: ‘it is vital for the safety of the workforce and of their families, along with the safety of communities, that the plant remains closed until an independent health and safety audit is carried out and that all recommended safety measures are implemented’?
He also questioned the Minister over the predicted impact of the outbreak more widely.
He said:
“How would you expect this outbreak to impact more widely, where, for example, Anglesey Social Services have scheduled a home care assessment tomorrow, stating that ‘Until the assessment has been completed the department would be unable to confirm the outcome of any request for services…….. Staff manage such visits with appropriate use of PPE’, but when the constituent contacted the Welsh Government, it replied ‘Unless they are providing essential care for you, we are advising everyone to use the phone or internet, wherever possible’?”.
In his response, the Health Minister, Vaughan Gething MS said:
“On the second point I don't think there is a conflict, because there's the point there about the people who are directly running and delivering that service thinking about the adjustments they need to make for those assessments to continue, and that's actually something that, to be fair to the local government family, they've managed throughout the period of the pandemic. And there's more of that activity taking place as there's greater confidence because of the lower transmission and incidence rates, but also because, of course, for some time now, we've managed to stabilise our supplies of PPE to the broader social care sector.
“As for the headline call for an audit, well, we actually need to see whether that's the right thing to do or not. We need to understand the public health responsibilities and where we are in controlling and running the incident itself, to protect people who are not just associated with that workforce in Llangefni, but the wider community as well. We will continue to take decisions that protect people here in Wales in local communities and further afield, and that will be the guiding point. I just don't think that it's helpful, though, to try to respond to an individual suggestion that doesn't appear to have a proper evidence base that it's the right thing to do. That's exactly why we have outbreak management teams drawing together all of those local stakeholders.”
Mr Isherwood added:
“My thoughts and best wishes are with everyone affected by these outbreaks, especially those infected with the virus. The Minister’s disparaging comments about Anglesey’s MP at this time were regrettable.”
ENDS