STABLE supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE), extensive flu vaccination, quicker coronavirus test results, and more hospital beds will be the cornerstones of preparations for what promises to be the most difficult winter yet for the NHS in Wales.

A massive extra investment – £800 million – of support from the Welsh Government will focus on these issues, as work goes on to ready health and social care to weather a potential second wave of coronavirus while continuing to provide essential services.

Attempting to bombproof the NHS in Wales against the rigours of winter pressures is an expensive and not always totally successful enterprise. But in 2020/21 the stakes – and the cost – could not be higher.

Plans for the money, described as a stabilisation package, include:

  • Ensuring a stable supply of PPE for the health and social care sectors, through a strategic approach to procurement, so an appropriate ‘buffer’ of supplies can be built up to respond to any second wave of infections. It will also ensure a reliable supply of PPE is available for primary care providers, including GPs, dentists and optometrists.
  • Wales’ largest ever flu campaign, announced last month, to enable more people than ever to benefit from the free winter flu vaccine programme.
  • Ensuring faster turnaround of coronavirus test results to support contact tracing, so Wales can respond rapidly to contain any spread of the virus.
  • Providing health boards with sufficient capacity, through existing hospitals and access to field hospitals as a contingency, if needed.

The Grange University Hospital near Cwmbran was readied last April, almost a year ahead of its scheduled opening date, to take almost 400 patients in the event that other hospitals found themselves swamped by demand during the first spike in coronavirus cases.

As it turned out, these beds were not required, but Aneurin Bevan University Health Board now wants to open the Grange in November, instead of next spring as planned, to provide vital extra capacity this coming winter.

This requires Welsh Government approval and there has been no indication of that yet, though health minister Vaughan Gething told the Argus late last month that he hoped to make a “definitive decision” within weeks.

The £800 million announced today takes the total amount of Welsh Government coronavirus support for NHS organisations to more than £1.3 billion.

It is an eyewatering sum, but indicative of the huge challenge of responding to a potential second wave of the virus, alongside normal winter pressures.

Added to this is the need to further increase access to essential health services, many of which were scaled back or suspended altogether in the teeth of the first wave of coronavirus last spring.

“We understand the growing financial pressures and challenges being faced across the public sector and we are doing all we can to alleviate these,” said finance minister Rebecca Evans.

“I am confident that today’s announcement will provide our NHS with the stability it needs to respond to the pandemic.

Health and social services minister Vaughan Gething said it is “a testament to our dedicated NHS staff that Wales’ patients have continued to receive compassionate and professional care during this pandemic”.

“Whilst our services rigorously prepare every year for winter pressures, 2020 may be unlike any other,” he added.

“This £800-million package will help with many aspects as we move into the next phase of the virus such as PPE supplies, testing and an ambitious flu vaccination programme.”