English: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm pleased to have an opportunity to respond to this motion. It's a motion that we in Plaid Cymru agree with in general terms. I disagree with the wording in certain areas - COVID-lite areas rather than COVID-free are what the Royal College of Surgeons is calling for, and it's an important issue. We certainly agree with the underlying intention of the motion in general terms. We will be voting against the original motion to allow a vote on our own amendment, of course. Long before the pandemic, we were concerned about lengthy waiting lists. As health spokesperson, it has been one of the hot topics of the past few years. As a constituency representative, I know of I don't know how many constituents who have been told that they will have to wait for way over 12 months for urgent treatment. It will be an experience common to each and every one of us in this Senedd, I'm sure. The impact on patients is great - not only the direct impact of having to live with illness, often in pain or in discomfort, with the anxiety that the long waiting time is actually making things worse and that the treatment will ultimately be less successful - but also because the waiting itself leads to problems. We had a valuable report from the health councils back in 2018, 'Our lives on hold', looking at the impact of waiting times on quality of life. The title said it all, if truth be told. We are talking about the impact of the waiting, not only on physical health, but also on mental health, on isolation, on mobility, on the loss of dignity and the impact on family life, where older people have childcare responsibilities and can't undertake those responsibilities. In that respect, I think that the Government has been a little disingenuous in its amendments. The Government needs to recognise that waiting times in Wales were far too long before this crisis. They shouldn't, in any way, try to avoid the reality of the situation - that performance against waiting time targets has been a long-term problem. But, the pandemic, of course, has exacerbated the situation. For many people who had been waiting before the beginning of this troubled year, things came to a stop. When some elective treatments restarted, we heard concerns of inconsistencies across Wales in terms of access to surgical services. But, do bear in mind that it's not just waiting times for treatment that have been recognised as a problem. We have also seen great delays - and the complete suspension at times - in the diagnostic services that are so crucially important. In addition to that, of course, many people have chosen not to seek medical assistance because of nervousness about catching the virus or because they don't want to be a burden on our health service at a time of crisis. The upshot of all of this? We have heard cancer organisations such as Macmillan tell us that they think that up to 3,000 people in Wales could be living with undiagnosed cancer because of the impact of coronavirus. So, it is crucial that the Welsh Government does look at how they deal with the backlogs in the system, and deal with the fact that many people feel that they have been forgotten. It's important not only for the sake of the patients, but also for our committed staff, and we once again have an opportunity to thank them for their service. We need the COVID-lite sites as a matter of urgency, with regular testing for staff and patients and sufficient stocks of PPE to keep the elective capacity going through the crucial next few months. I use the term 'COVID-lite' deliberately, rather than 'COVID-free', as the Royal College of Surgeons does, because in reality you can give no guarantee that you can eradicate the virus entirely from sites. Regular testing is crucial in order to maintain surgical services, workforce planning, and safeguarding the COVID-lite sites is important. Staff must be tested regularly, even when they are asymptomatic. We have tabled our amendment in the spirit of making progress, and in passing that, as I've suggested, we will be supporting the motion itself. We do think that we need a review of performance targets -
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Dwi'n falch o gael y cyfle i ymateb i'r cynnig yma. Mae o'n gynnig rydyn ni ym Mhlaid Cymru yn cyd-fynd â fo yn gyffredinol. Dwi'n anghytuno efo'r geiriad mewn ambell i le - ardaloedd COVID-lite, er enghraifft, yn hytrach na COVID-free y mae Coleg Brenhinol y Llawfeddygon yn galw amdanyn nhw, sy'n fater eithaf pwysig. Ond, rydyn ni'n sicr yn cytuno efo'r bwriad yn y cynnig yma yn gyffredinol. Wrth gwrs, mi fyddwn ni'n pleidleisio yn erbyn y cynnig gwreiddiol er mwyn caniatáu pleidlais ar ein gwelliant ninnau. Ymhell cyn y pandemig, roeddem ni'n poeni am restrau aros hir. Fel llefarydd iechyd, mae o wedi bod yn un o destunau trafod mwyaf y blynyddoedd diwethaf. Fel cynrychiolydd etholaeth, dwi'n gwybod am wn i ddim faint o etholwyr sydd wedi cael gwybod bod yn rhaid iddyn nhw aros ymhell dros flwyddyn am driniaeth frys, hyd yn oed. Mi fydd o'n brofiad sy'n gyffredin i bawb ohonom ni yn y Senedd yma, dwi'n siŵr. Mae'r effaith ar gleifion yn fawr - nid yn unig yr effaith uniongyrchol o orfod byw efo salwch, yn aml iawn mewn poen, neu'n anghyfforddus, â'r pryder bod yr amser hir heb driniaeth yn creu difrod mwy, gan wneud y driniaeth yn y pen draw yn debyg o fod yn llai llwyddiannus - ond hefyd achos bod yr aros ei hun yn arwain at broblemau eraill. Mi gawsom ni adroddiad gwerthfawr gan y cynghorau iechyd yn ôl yn 2018, 'Ein bywydau ar stop', yn edrych ar effaith amseroedd aros ar ansawdd bywydau cleifion. Mae teitl yr adroddiad yn dweud y cyfan, mewn difrif. Rydyn ni'n sôn am effaith yr aros, nid yn unig ar iechyd corfforol, ond ar iechyd meddwl, ar unigrwydd, ar symudedd, y teimlad o golli urddas, yr effaith ar fywyd teulu, lle mae pobl hŷn a chyfrifoldebau gofal plant, er enghraifft, ac yn methu â gwneud hynny. Yn hynny o beth, dwi'n meddwl bod y Llywodraeth braidd yn annidwyll yn eu gwelliannau nhw. Mae angen i'r Llywodraeth gydnabod bod rhestrau aros yng Nghymru yn llawer rhy hir cyn yr argyfwng yma. Mae angen iddyn nhw beidio, mewn unrhyw ffordd, drio osgoi'r realiti bod perfformiad yn erbyn y mesurau am amseroedd aros wedi bod yn broblem ers amser maith. Ond, mae'r pandemig, wrth gwrs, wedi gwaethygu pethau. I lawer o bobl a oedd wedi bod yn aros yn barod cyn dechrau'r flwyddyn gythryblus yma, mi ddaeth pethau i stop. Pan wnaeth rhai triniaethau elective ailddechrau, mi glywsom bryderon bod yna anghysondeb ar draws Cymru yn nhermau mynediad at wasanaethau llawfeddygol. Ond, cofiwch nad dim ond aros am driniaethau am salwch neu anhwylder sydd wedi cael ei adnabod yn barod ydy'r broblem. Rydyn ni hefyd, yn allweddol, wedi gweld oedi mawr - ac atal yn llwyr ar adegau - yn y gwasanaeth diagnosis, sydd mor, mor bwysig. Ar ben hynny, wrth gwrs, mae llawer o bobl wedi dewis peidio â chwilio am gymorth meddygol oherwydd nerfusrwydd am ddal y feirws, neu am nad ydyn nhw eisiau bod yn fwrn ar y gwasanaeth iechyd mewn amser o argyfwng. Y canlyniad? Rydyn ni wedi clywed mudiadau canser fel Macmillan yn dweud wrthym ni eu bod nhw'n meddwl y gallai fod yn agos at 3,000 o bobl yng Nghymru yn debyg o fod yn byw efo canser heb ddiagnosis oherwydd effaith y coronafeirws. Felly, mae'n hanfodol bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn edrych ar sut i ddelio efo'r backlog yn y system, a delio efo'r ffaith bod llawer o bobl yn teimlo eu bod nhw wedi cael eu hanghofio. Mae o'n bwysig nid yn unig er mwyn y cleifion, ond er mwyn ein staff ymroddedig, yr ydym ni'n cael cyfle unwaith eto heddiw i ddiolch iddyn nhw. Mae angen safleoedd COVID-lite pwrpasol ar frys, efo profion rheolaidd ar staff a chleifion a stoc ddigonol o PPE i gadw capasiti elective i fynd drwy'r misoedd tyngedfennol nesaf. Eto, dwi'n defnyddio'r term ' COVID-lite' yn hytrach na 'rhydd o COVID', fel mae Coleg Brenhinol y Llawfeddygon yn ei ddweud, achos mewn difri does dim modd rhoi gwarant y gallwch chi gael gwared ar y feirws yn gyfan gwbl. Mae profion aml yn hanfodol er mwyn cynnal gwasanaethau llawfeddygol dewisol, cynllunio'r gweithlu, a diogelu safleoedd COVID-lite. Rhaid i staff gael eu profi'n rheolaidd hyd yn oed pan fyddan nhw'n asymptomatic. Rydyn ni wedi cyflwyno ein gwelliant ni mewn ysbryd o symud ymlaen, ac o basio hwnnw mi fyddwn ni, fel dwi wedi awgrymu, yn cefnogi'r cynnig ei hun. Rydyn ni yn meddwl bod angen adolygu'r targedau -