Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies has welcomed an additional £150m Wales is to receive from the UK Government to tackle the coronavirus during the winter and avoid a second wave, after questioning the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock MP, on the extra funding in the House of Commons on Monday.
Last Friday the Prime Minister announced an additional £3 billion for the NHS in England to prepare for a second coronavirus wave and said additional funding would also be provided to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Following the Health Secretary’s Statement in the House of Commons on Monday on the UK Government’s response to coronavirus, James asked him to confirm the benefits of the additional funding to Wales.
He said:
“I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. He referred to an additional £3 billion for the NHS to help keep the temporary Nightingale hospitals open over the winter, should they be needed, and to keep non-covid sites available for routine healthcare. Will he confirm how that funding relates to Wales?”
In his response, the Secretary of State for Health established that Wales will receive an additional £150 million, and said ensuring Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland receive extra like England, “means that across the UK we can fight the disease better because we are all part of the same UK”.
Speaking afterwards, James said:
“I very much welcome the fact that the UK Government have agreed to provide this additional funding to help our NHS deal with this virus in what are going to be challenging winter months. It is extremely important that this money is spent wisely so that Wales can contribute to an effective nationwide pandemic response.
“As the Health Secretary said, it is only by every part of the UK working as a collective force that this country will have any chance of keeping Covid at bay and preventing a second peak.
“It is a substantial amount of money and every penny is necessary to support and protect our health service going forward. All those working in our hospitals have faced the most gruelling months of their careers since the start of this pandemic and it is vital that everything possible is done to prevent them facing even more challenging times in the future.”
