Wednesday 1 April 2020

March Fools

Why if it has been played as a patsy by the Westminster Government or rather the English arm of the NHS, do not the Labour Welsh Government  open  up about it.

Wales Online report  that
The Welsh Government is facing questions after it failed to deliver a deal it promised for 5,000 coronavirus tests a day in Wales.
On Saturday, health minister Vaughan Gething admitted that an agreement it had drawn up for 5,000 extra testing kits a day had fallen through.
Mr Gething said at the time it was "disappointing" that a company the Welsh Government had a written agreement with was "not able to honour that agreement".
Pharmaceutical giant Roche is understood to be the supplier but denied in a statement ever having had a deal with Wales. It said: “Roche does not have, and has never had, a contract or agreement directly with Wales to supply testing for Covid-19. Roche has an agreement only with the UK Government to increase testing capacity across the whole of the UK. The UK-wide roll-out is b
eing coordinated centrally by Public Health England, including Wales.”
Though there has been some unsubstantiated claims  it was Perkin Elmer who have a plant in Llantrisant , but they would have had to have another reason to pull out
This centrally-coordinated deal will involve England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and is likely to see fewer tests initially available in Wales.

Whitehall sources told Sky News that Roche appeared to want to prioritise the bigger of two orders - one requested by the NHS in England.
Mr Gething has admitted that from this week, the testing capacity would be only be 1,100 tests instead of 6,000.
Mr Gething said that from mid-April another 4,000 antigen tests would be used in Wales every day as part of a "four-nation deal" announced by the UK Government involving Thermo Fisher Scientific, Amazon, Boots, Royal Mail and Randox.
There remain questions about what the deal was, who was involved and how it collapsed.
On Monday, First Minister Mark Drakeford said the Welsh Government "believed we had an agreement that should have been honoured".
The following day, his health minister Vaughan Gething said that deal falling through was having a major impact on testing.
He told the daily press conference the hope had been there would be "about" 6,000 tests a day in Wales from April 1 but because a deal fell through the testing level is now 1,100.

 The Welsh Government has refused to name the company but said there was a "clear agreement" for the unnamed company to "come in to Wales to set up the infrastructure required".Mr Gething said there was a written "exchange and agreement for a team to come into Wales" to improve testing capacity however, he said the company were unable to fulfil their agreement.He said he would not be commenting at this time on what had happened: "Our focus has got to be on providing more routes and tests that we have got."We've diversified the people were working with, the offers of help we've had from different organisations including the university sector and the NHS."You will see an increase."But those tests we were due to have would have made an earlier difference for us."My time right now has to be on getting things right for today and tomorrow and the big challenge we know is coming through the doors of our health and social care system here in Wales."The company themselves, made a decision they weren't able to agree with us."Roche said: "Our company has long been a trusted partner to the NHS, working to transform healthcare for patients."We are currently working in partnership with Public Health England to scale up clinical testing for COVID-19 throughout the UK. A new Roche Diagnostics test is being piloted at two hospital trusts while wider plans are designed and developed for roll-out across the country, including in Wales."The roll-out of this additional testing is being, and has always been, co-ordinated by Public Health England and there has never been a separate agreement for Wales.
Nation Cymru add that.. 
Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price has called on the Welsh Government to be “honest” about why the agreement between themselves and an unnamed private supplier to provide an extra 5,000 Covid-19 tests a day collapsed.The Welsh Government said it was “disappointing” that the company had not been able to honour a “written agreement”.But Adam Price said it “beggared belief” that the Welsh Government was refusing to say why the deal collapsed or who the company was.Mr Price said it was in the “public interest” for the Welsh Government to be honest with the public and to “provide urgent answers” on what happened and why.Plaid Cymru said some sources had suggested the UK Government was part of the reason the deal collapsed.“Having blamed a company for failing to deliver on a vital agreement to provide an extra five thousand Covid-19 tests, it beggars belief that the Welsh Government is refusing to say why the deal collapsed and who the company was – especially if the actions of the UK Government scuppered the deal as some sources have suggested,” Adam Price said.“It is in the public interest for the Welsh Government to be honest with the public and to provide urgent answers about what happened – and why.“We were assured by Vaughan Gething that by tomorrow six thousand tests would be done per day. Now, because the deal fell through, we’re looking at only 1,100 tests being done a day. Wales will be even further behind on vital testing than we already were. Precious time has been lost and countless lives may now be at greater risk.“Testing is one of the best weapons we have to defeat this pandemic by tracking and tracing the spread of the virus, and ensuring frontline health and care workers are protected and can go back to work.“The Welsh Government shouldn’t be ‘disappointed’, they should be furious
Amongst all this a hero has emerged in an Aberystwyth Teenager Lloyd who has provided us with daily updates and who has put our own Government to shame..
With Coronavirus deaths in the area of the Anurian Bevan Health Board 'mirror those in Italy' as a huge spike in numbers makes the Welsh region the UK's worst hotspot after London. Can  we trust Public Health "England" to coordinate testing

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This means it has the highest concentration of confirmed Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people outside London, The Times reports. 

The Aneurin Bevan Health Board should be prioritised for testing , but it seems that the Welsh Governemnt have been prevented from seeking to do , by their London Masters
They were taken for March Fools and tghe peoplke of Wales deserve better.

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