Keep listening to the expert advice

DEALING with a pandemic and lockdown is hard – it’s unchartered territory for most.

No government in the world has got it spot on, though some have done a lot better than others.

But what is absolutely essential is that lessons are learned for when this happens again – and it will happen, whether it’s another next wave of Covid-19 or a totally new pandemic.

All the forecasts suggest there will be multiple waves of Covid-19, with the worst expected at the end of autumn when it will coincide with a rise in seasonal influenza.

To not learn from the mistakes made in the first wave would condemn perhaps thousands of people to unnecessarily dying before their time.

We know that the Welsh Government made errors in the early stages of this disease.

Members of both the Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of General Practitioners described failings in the Welsh Government’s initial response when they gave evidence to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee last Thursday.

They identified PPE, testing for health and social care workers, arrangements for student nurses, guidance for BAME staff, staffing levels staying in legal limits and communication from the Welsh Government as areas of concern.

Mistakes the first time around are perhaps understandable, though of course this will be small comfort to the NHS staff who went without tests and PPE.

But there is no denying there is an ever-increasing list of lessons.

There have been issues with the recording of deaths in two health boards, confusion over PPE items actually stockpiled, several changes in care home testing policy and the subsequent missing and rapid abandonment of testing targets, to name but a few areas of concern.

With the predicted waves to come, valid excuses for failings will begin to evaporate.

Though further errors could result in direct deaths from the virus, there can also be indirect problems.

If the people here in Wales do not have faith in their leaders they are less likely to follow their advice.

Be under no illusion, the worst thing that could possibly happen during this crisis is that we stop listening to expert advice.

All the people in the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee meeting said that the issues had improved.

This needs to continue – we cannot make the same mistakes again.